Yada Lee 2020 ©. All rights reserved.

Photos by Sawat Auethaweepol.

About

...Growing up I was taught to serve. Making and sharing music is my way of serving my communities. I am constantly inspired by my fellow musicians, friends and colleagues who keep this precious art form alive. We feed off each other intense energies in orchestras and the whole experience is so electrifying. We then make sure to pass on the tradition to the younger generations of musicians. My journey as a violinist has brought me numerous surprises as I trot along the path. I went places I never dreamt of with my music, and played with people I never imagined I could even meet. Of course, the road isn’t always so smooth; I faced rejections, I cried, I grieved and I moved on, and tried to do better. These emotional tolls and turmoils are what I strive to convey in my performances. The listeners really can feel it when your music is sincere...

Violinist Yada Lee has given recitals at Beethovenfest in Bonn, Germany, Tongyeong International Music Festival in South Korea, Green Mountain Chamber Music Festival in Burlington, Vermont, Mazzoleni Hall and Richard Bradshaw Amphitheatre in Toronto. Dedicated to the betterment of society, she has given countless benefit concerts for charitable organizations in Thailand, such as Operation Smile Thailand, The Gift of Life Bone Marrow Foundation, Wheelchair and Friendship Centre of Asia, Wishing Well Foundation, Thai Red Cross Society, and more. 

The 2019-2020 season’s highlights include "Love and Turmoil" a Solo Spotlight Recital at New World Symphony with pianists Sahun Hong and Wesley Ducote, featuring music by Brahms, Janáček and Gershwin-Heifetz. In March during the COVID-19 global  pandemic, "Live from our Living Room" concert series were founded and produced by New World Symphony fellows for audience at home. The musicians played live, informal chamber music concerts from their homes in Miami Beach. This weekly series was broadcast via Facebook Live and episodes are archived here for stream-on-demand.

Winner of numerous awards and competitions, Ms Lee has been the winner of the Concerto Competition at Mannes School of Music, first prize winner at the Beethoven National String Competition Thailand, and is a grant recipient from the New York Foundation for the Arts, Peter M. Gross Fund, and the Late Princess Galyani Vadhana Foundation. She made her New York debut at Lincoln Center’s Alice Tully Hall in 2014, performing Prokofiev Violin Concerto No. 1, and her Bangkok debut performing Mendelssohn Violin Concerto in 2010 with Bangkok Charity Orchestra. 

A passionate orchestral musician, Ms. Lee played with the Canadian Opera Company Orchestra in the 2015-2016 season, has been a member of the Bangkok Symphony Orchestra since 2008, and is also a member of the Verbier Festival Orchestra. In the past seasons, she has been under the batons of conductors including Charles Dutoit, Iván Fischer, Valery Gergiev, Manfred Honeck, Zubin Mehta, Esa­-Pekka Salonen, Gábor Takács-Nagy, Antonio Pappano, Johannes Debus, Michael Tilson Thomas, and many others. With various orchestras, she has performed throughout the world at venues such as Carnegie Hall, Koerner Hall, Maison Symphony de Montréal, Smetana Hall, and major concert venues across Asia. Ms. Lee also served as concertmaster and principal for Oberlin Orchestra, Mannes Orchestra, Spoleto Festival Orchestra and New World Symphony.

Equally at home with repertoire ranging from baroque to contemporary, Ms. Lee has played with such groups as the Oberlin Baroque Ensemble, Contemporary Music Ensemble, and while living in New York City, she served as concertmaster of the Mannes American Composer Ensemble (MACE) under the direction of Lowell Liebermann. She highly enjoys collaborating with and commissioning new music by living composers.

Born and raised in Bangkok, Thailand, Yada Lee has recently completed her orchestral fellowship at New World Symphony and is about to begin her fellowship at The Orchestra Now at Bard College and Conservatory in New York. She holds a Master’s degree from Mannes School of Music and a Bachelor’s degree in Violin Performance from Oberlin Conservatory of Music. She received an Artist Diploma from The Glenn Gould School of The Royal Conservatory in Toronto. Her principal teachers include Paul Kantor, Barry Shiffman, Laurie Smukler and David Bowlin. Ms. Lee is also a keen opera lover and a fan of the Metropolitan Opera. 

August 2020

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