Daniel Lee

Violoncellos

Principal
Frank Y. and Katherine G. Gladney Chair

Recipient of the prestigious Avery Fisher Career Grant, American cellist Daniel Lee continues to gain recognition as one of the world’s distinctive virtuosos. In 2009, following his performance of Elgar’s Cello Concerto with the Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch proclaimed that Lee “made the concerto his own in a beautiful and deeply touching display of interpretive and musical virtuosity.”

A native of Seattle, Lee began cello studies at the age of six with Richard Aaron. When Lee was only 11, Mstislav Rostropovich embraced the young musician as student and protégé, noting that he played Tchaikovsky's Rococo Variations “much better than I did when I was 15.” Three years later Decca Records signed the young cellist to a remarkable contract that has supported his study and the careful development of his extraordinary musical gifts. Lee is a graduate of the Curtis Institute, where he was a student of Orlando Cole. Lee has also studied with Peter Wiley and William Pleeth.

Since his orchestral debut in 1990 with the Northwest Chamber Orchestra, Lee has won acclaim as a soloist with the Baltimore Symphony, Cincinnati Symphony, Cleveland Orchestra, New Jersey Symphony, Philadelphia Orchestra, Seattle Symphony, Seoul Festival Orchestra, London's New Queen's Hall Orchestra, and other ensembles around the world. He has collaborated with such leading conductors as Jahja Ling, JoAnn Falleta, Zdenek Macal, Jesus Lopez-Cobos, Gerard Schwarz, and SLSO Music Director David Robertson. Lee has been Principal Cello of the SLSO since 2005.

Lee’s recent solo engagements have included the Kansas City Symphony and Augusta Symphony, Malaysian Philharmonic with Jahja Ling, Colorado Symphony with Jeffrey Kahane, Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia, and a solo appearance at Philadelphia's Kimmel Center. He has performed recitals in Jacksonville (Florida) and Boston's Jordan Hall, and he has given a recital tour in Japan. Lee has participated in the Rising Stars Program at the Caramoor Music Festival and at the Great Lakes, Santa Fe, and Marlboro music festivals. In recent seasons he has played critically acclaimed debut recitals at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, San Francisco's Herbst Theater, and Kean University (New Jersey), as well as performances with the Orquesta Sinfonica de la Ciudad de Mexico, with JoAnn Falleta conducting, and the National Symphony of Taipei.

In St. Louis during the 2009-10 season, Lee performs recitals at the Sheldon Concert Hall on February 18, 2010, and makes his New York recital debut at Merkin Hall in New York City on April 3, 2010.