Joanna Lee

Joanna Lee

First Violin

Violinist Joanna Lee has performed throughout Korea, Japan, China, Europe and the United States in significant venues such as the KKL in Luzern, the JT Art Hall in Tokyo, and the Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles. She was a soloist with the Suwon Symphony and has been invited to prestigious festivals such as the Verbier Festival, La Jolla Music Society, Kuhmo Festival and the Mozarteum Summer Academy. A prizewinner from a number of competitions, Lee holds first prizes from the Padova International Competition, Korea Times Competition, Utah Chamber Music Competition and the Beverly Hills Consortium. She was a recipient of multiple scholarships such as the Colburn Foundation Scholarship and the Fritz-Gerber Scholarship. 

As a chamber and orchestral musician, Lee is active in the greater Los Angeles area and abroad. She was awarded the first prize in the International Music Competition Grand Prize Virtuoso in London and fourth prize at the Schoenfeld International String Competition this past summer in Harbin, China. She is a founding member of the piano quartet Los Angeles Ensemble, which performs primarily in the Los Angeles area, and also coordinated the Korea-Japan Chamber Music Tour, which took place in three cities in Korea and Japan. In addition to her recent position as principal second violinist of the Redland Symphony, she is a member of Pacific Symphony. Also a devoted educator, Lee was Visiting Lecturer at Scripps College and is currently on the faculty at the Colburn Community School of Music of Performing Arts. 

Born into a musical family, Lee began playing the violin at the age of six. She attended the University of Music in Basel, Switzerland and the University of Vienna, where she completed her studies with distinction under the guidance of Adelina Oprean and Dora Schwarzberg. During this time, she also received close musical guidance from Mikyung Lee and Ikhwan Bae. She holds a Doctoral of Musical Arts degree from the University of Southern California, Los Angeles (Phi Kappa Lambda), where she studied under the tutelage of Margaret Batjer on a full scholarship. Her areas of concentration were sacred music, jazz and baroque violin.
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