Winston-Salem, NC – On Friday, September 23 at 7:30pm and Saturday, September 24, 2023 at 3pm violinist Kristin Lee will be the featured soloist with the Winston-Salem Symphony, conducted by newly appointed Music Director Michelle Merrill in her season debut at Reynolds Auditorium (301 N Hawthorne Rd.). Lee will perform Brahms’ Violin Concerto in D major, Op. 77. The concert program will also include Dvořák’s Carnival Overture and Bernstein’s Symphonic Dances from West Side Story.
Kristin Lee’s accolades and sheer virtuosity as a violinist make any opportunity to witness her perform live an occasion worth much excitement. “Her technique is flawless, and she has a sense of melodic shaping that reflects an artistic maturity,” reports the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Lee has performed as soloist with leading orchestras around the world including The Philadelphia Orchestra, St. Louis Symphony, St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, New Jersey Symphony, Milwaukee Symphony, Hong Kong Philharmonic, Nordic Chamber Orchestra of Sweden, Ural Philharmonic of Russia, Korean Broadcasting Symphony, Guiyang Symphony Orchestra of China, Orquesta Sinfonica Nacional of Dominican Republic, and many more.
In all of her performances and in the impressive array of roles she inhabits as a musician, Kristin Lee is dedicated to forging personal connections between audiences and classical music. She performs widely as a member of New York’s Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, including on tour in Italy, Croatia, Germany, Taiwan, and across the U.S. Always up for adventure, at the Moab Music Festival in Utah, Lee has performed in such unexpected places as rafting down the Colorado River, in a natural rock grotto, and in the magical landscape of the red rock canyons of the area. Lee founded Emerald City Music in Seattle, and as artistic director, presents eclectic, vibrant concert experiences in unusual venues, which leave both performers and audiences mutually transformed. The series was recently deemed "the beacon for the casual-classical movement" (CityArts). She is also committed to the future of classical music as a devoted mentor and educator for the next generation, serving on the faculty of the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music as an Assistant Professor of Violin, and teaching in residencies with the Singapore National Youth Orchestra, El Sistema Chamber Music Festival of Venezuela, and Music@Menlo’s Chamber Music Institute, among others.
Of her upcoming performance of Brahms’ Violin Concerto with the Winston-Salem Symphony and her personal history of memories with the piece, Lee says:
“I am delighted to start my 23-24 season on a very high note with the Brahms Violin Concerto and the Winston Salem Symphony Orchestra. I am especially excited for this performance because I have the great privilege to join Michelle Merill on her debut as the new Music Director. I have vivid memories from when I first learned the Brahms Violin Concerto. I was so obsessed with this work that I spent many hours in the Listening Room at The Juilliard School, listening to recording after recording, and identifying the different interpretations from my musical heroes. Brahms's composition stands out from other violin concerti because even though it is one of the most technically demanding pieces in the violin repertoire, every single moment is to serve a musical purpose, not a virtuosic display. The emotional and musical complexity that Brahms captures through his writing is the reason why it remains as my favorite violin concerto to this day."
Born in Seoul, Kristin Lee moved to the United States and studied under prestigious teachers including Sonja Foster, Catherine Cho, Dorothy DeLay, and Itzhak Perlman. Her many honors include awards from the Trondheim Chamber Music Competition, Trio di Trieste Premio International Competition, the SYLFF Fellowship, Dorothy DeLay Scholarship, the Aspen Music Festival’s Violin Competition, the New Jersey Young Artists’ Competition, and the Salon de Virtuosi Scholarship Foundation. She is also the unprecedented First Prize winner of three concerto competitions at The Juilliard School, where she earned her Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees. Her violin was crafted in Italy in 1759 by Gennaro Gagliano and is generously loaned to her by Paul & Linda Gridley.
For more information, visit www.violinistkristinlee.com.
About Winston-Salem Symphony: Proud to be one of the Southeast’s most highly regarded regional orchestras, the Winston-Salem Symphony enters its 76th season, inspiring listeners of all ages throughout North Carolina’s Piedmont Triad with various concerts, education programs, and community engagement initiatives each year. www.wssymphony.org/
For Calendar Editors:
Description: Violinist Kristin Lee will be presented in two concerts on September 23 and 24, as the featured soloist with the Winston-Salem Symphony conducted by Music Director Michelle Merrill. A musician of impeccable skill whose performances The New York Classical Review describes as “vivid” and “fluid and expressive,” Lee will perform Johannes Brahms’ Violin Concerto in D major, Op. 77 as part of a program that also includes Antonin Dvořák’s Carnival Overture and Leonard Bernstein’s Symphonic Dances from West Side Story.
Short description: Violinist Kristin Lee –– a musician of impeccable skill whose performances are described as “vivid” and “fluid and expressive” (The New York Classical Review) –– will be presented in two concerts as the featured soloist with the Winston-Salem Symphony, conducted by Music Director Michelle Merrill. Lee will perform Johannes Brahms’ Violin Concerto in D major, Op. 77.
Concert details:
Who: Violinist Kristin Lee
Presented by the Winston-Salem Symphony
What: Music by Johannes Brahms, Antonin Dvořák, and Leonard Bernstein
When: Friday, September 23 at 7:30pm and Saturday September 24, 2023 at 3pm
Where: Reynolds Auditorium, 301 N Hawthorne Rd., Winston-Salem, NC 27104
Tickets and information: www.wssymphony.org/2324-2/
Read more here.
