Julia Lee

Biography supplied for the 2024 competition.

Praised by the La Jolla Light for her “warmth” and “musical integrity”, Korean-American cellist Julia Lee is passionate about creating authentic connections and relationships through her love of music. She is a prize winner of the Antonio Janigro International Cello Competition, recipient of the Mary Alice Cox Award, and first prize at the FFMC competition. As a soloist she has performed with the Ocala Symphony, Alachua County Symphony, and University of Florida chamber orchestra. Julia has been presented in performances and recitals by the Music in the Vineyards Festival in Napa Valley, La Jolla Music Society SummerFest, Montage Music Society, and Four Seasons Chamber Music Festival. Deeply enthusiastic about collaboration, Julia has had the pleasure of performing alongside renowned artists such as Clive Greensmith, Noah Bendix-Balgley, Bion Tsang, Catherine Cho, Ara Gregorian, Robert McDonald, Inon Barnatan, Blake Pouliot, Merry Peckham, and Molly Carr across various international stages. Julia also served as principal cello of the Juilliard Orchestra for four years and was principal cello of the Juilliard Chamber Orchestra. In 2022 she served as the teaching assistant for Eric Bartlett’s orchestral repertoire course at Juilliard.

Julia received a Bachelor of Music at The Juilliard School where she studied with Darrett Adkins. She is currently pursuing a Master of Music at Juilliard where she studies with Joel Krosnick under a C.V Starr Scholarship. Past summers have taken her to study at the Perlman Music Program, Music Academy of the West, Orford Musique Academy, Kneisel Hall, and Aspen Music Festival. She is extremely grateful for her previous mentors, Wendy Warner and Chungsun Kim.