Korean violinist, Haerim Elizabeth Lee captivates audiences by “leaving them breathless with impeccable phrasing and relevant musicality.” (El Norte, Mexico). Elizabeth has developed a playing style indicative of the very essence of her personality: passionate, deliberate, and often witty. In 2015, Elizabeth performed as the concertmaster with Yo-Yo Ma at the Kennedy Center Honors concert in Washington, D.C. to recognize Maestro Seiji Ozawa, which was attended by former President Barack Obama. Following Elizabeth’s solo debut with orchestra at nine years old, she has been a guest soloist with the Winston-Salem Symphony, Symphony of the Mountains, New Amsterdam Symphony, Chelsea Symphony, Orquesta Sinfonica de la Unal, Seoul Virtuosi, Daejeon Philharmonic Orchestra, Orchestra Olimpia and Filharmonie Bohuslava Martinu. As a performing artist and scholar, Lee has established herself as a visionary and was the first recipient of the Tarisio Young Artist Grant as the Artistic Director of MoKo Musik for promotion and commission of Korean music. She is also the Co-Artistic Director of the Innsbrook Music Festival in Missouri and is a co-founder of Texas Chamber Music Institute.
Performing within the intimate setting of chamber music is one of Elizabeth’s most cherished experiences. As a part of Evita String Quartet, she received Bronze Medal Award from the Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition and she has also collaborated with world-renowned artists such as Robert McDuffie, Stephan Picard, Barry Shiffman, David Halen, Christopher Rex, and Todd Palmer. Elizabeth has performed in numerous music venues and festivals including John F. Kennedy Center, Carnegie Hall, Rackhum Auditorium, Prussia Cove International Music Seminar, Banff Centre, Aspen Music Festival, Tanglewood Music Center, Music Academy of the West, Heifetz International Music Festival, Spoleto Music Festival USA, Schleswig-Holestein Musik Festival, and Sarasota Music Festival.
Elizabeth possesses a progressive philosophy when it comes to exploring and premiering works by living composers. She has worked with Thomas Adès and has performed the Canadian premiere of Bright Sheng’s piano quintet at the Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity. Elizabeth recorded the premiere recordings of pieces by Ellen Taaffe Zwilich and Michael Daugherty and has also performed the North American premiere of Unsuk Chin’s Double Bind?. Her deep-rooted love for collaboration has resulted in some innovative relationships with complementary, but also unconventional art forms such as exhibits with the Boston Architecture School, New York Fashion Show and performances with choreographers and dancers. Elizabeth immigrated from Daejeon, South Korea, at the age of eight to pursue scholarship in music at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts. She went on to obtain her Bachelor of Arts from the New England Conservatory and, subsequently, her Masters in Music from Rice University Shepherd School of Music. While pursuing her Doctorate of Musical Arts at the University of Michigan, Elizabeth also studied at the Paris Conservatoire with support from the ERAMUS program.
Elizabeth’s debut album, My Time is Now (INNOVA), the first ever recording to feature George Gershwin’s recently restored Steinway piano from his New York apartment has been received with critical acclaim. “No one can do justice to this music without swagger and swing and (Elizabeth) has plenty of it. After three hearings, this album continues to enchant me; it’s a keeper. (Performing Arts Monterey Bay). As a passionate educator, Elizabeth mentors the faculty at an El-Sistema inspired program in New York, the Harmony Program and is currently a violin professor at Texas Christian University in Fort Worth, Texas.
