Concertmaster Chag-Hee Lee
A native of Seoul, Korea, Chag-Hee Lee graduated from YeWon School and Seoul Arts
High School. After completing her degree at the Korean National University of Arts
and Music, she received her Master of Music degree from Indiana University and Doctor
of Musical Arts degree from the University of Maryland. As an educator, Ms. Lee is
an adjunct faculty member at Mission College in Santa Clara and the College of San
Mateo and has served as a jury member for the Mission College Symphony Young Artist
Concerto Competition since 2014. She has also been included in the lecturer pool at
San Francisco State University since 2017.
In 2006, Ms. Lee won both the Special Presentation Winner Series put on by Artists
International and the New York Public Library Concert Series. Artists International
sponsored her New York City debut recital at Weill Recital Hall in Carnegie Hall and
the library sponsored her recital at Donnell Library Center. Her performance at Carnegie
Hall was described by the New York Concert Review as “focused and pure on all strings and in every register. Her facility and intonation
are excellent and her technique is secure and disciplined.”
Ms. Lee has appeared as concerto soloist with the Seoul, Ureuk, and Indiana University
Symphony Orchestras in addition to the Mission College Symphony and Maryland Sinfonietta.
She has also participated in music festivals in Aspen, Bowdoin, Banff, and Flaine
along with the National Orchestral Institute at the University of Maryland. From 2005
to 2007, she served as a substitute violinist with the Baltimore Symphony.
Ms. Lee has been an active member of Symphony Silicon Valley and served as concertmaster
of Mission College Symphony since 2008 as well as performing in the Sonnet Ensemble
since 2013. She has also served as concertmaster of the California Concerto Weekend
for Amateur Pianists in 2014 and 2017. She is thrilled to play in Symphony Silicon Valley with so many warm-hearted and very
talented musicians. She is a huge fan of film and animation, so her two favorite
concerts with Symphony Silicon Valley were the Joe Hisaishi Symphonic Concert - Music
from the Studio Ghibli Films in 2018 and the Lord of the Rings film trilogy with Maestro
Shih-Hung Young in 2015.
Currently, she resides in Palo Alto, California, with her husband, software engineer
Seong-Wook Joo, and their son Joshua, who is very talented young violinist.