Sydney Lee

Biography supplied for the 2024 competition.

Korean-American cellist Sydney Lee has established herself as an artist of refined elegance and profound sincerity. Lauded for her performance of Prokofiev Sinfonia Concertante as “mesmerizing” and “a performance to treasure” by British cellist Julian Lloyd Webber, Sydney received 1st prize at the 2022 Washington International Competition and 2nd prize at the Classic Strings International Competition. Most recently, she was the inaugural recipient of the $50,000 Gurrena Fellowship from the Meadowmount School of Music.
Since making her debut at age 13 with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, Sydney has gone on to perform with orchestras including the Zagreb Soloists, Armenian State Symphony Orchestra, and New Bedford Symphony Orchestra. Recently, she performed Shostakovich Concerto No. 1 with Yaniv Dinur and the New Hampshire Music Festival Orchestra as part of their Classics Series. Sydney was also invited to perform and give a masterclass at Sibelius Academy in Helsinki, Finland.
Deeply passionate about collaboration, Sydney founded the Galvin Cello Quartet. Capturing silver medal at the 2021 Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition, they were also winners of the 2022 Victor Elmaleh Competition and are currently represented by Concert Artists Guild.
Dedicated to fostering arts education, Sydney is on the Board of Directors of the Back to Bach Project. Under the guidance of Midori, she curated a three-way collaboration between Play on Philly, Curtis Institute of Music, and the Back to Bach Project. A recipient of the U.S. Presidential Scholars Foundation and Alumni Association Seed Grant, Sydney expanded Back to Bach’s reach both nationally and internationally by planting several regions and training new leaders.
A graduate of The Curtis Institute of Music and Northwestern University, Sydney continues her DMA with Hans Jorgen Jensen. She will begin this fall as Adjunct Cello Professor of the McDuffie Center for Strings in Macon, Georgia.