Amy Lee Violinist & Educator

Violinist Amy Lee is Associate Concertmaster of The Cleveland Orchestra and, beginning in fall 2026, will join the Oberlin Conservatory of Music full time as Associate Professor of Violin, following her appointment as Visiting Associate Professor in 2024. Praised for her expressive artistry and technical command, she has built a multifaceted career as a performer, chamber musician, and educator.

Since joining The Cleveland Orchestra in 2008, Lee has appeared many times as soloist with the ensemble. Notable performances include Samuel Barber's Violin Concerto at Blossom Music Center, Arvo Pärt's Fratres featured on the orchestra's Adella streaming platform, and Igor Stravinsky's Violin Concerto in collaboration with the Joffrey Ballet. She has also performed as soloist with orchestras across North America and in Asia.

A native of Seoul, South Korea, Lee made her solo debut with The Philadelphia Orchestra at age fifteen and later earned a bachelor's degree from the Curtis Institute of Music and a master's degree from The Juilliard School. Her early accomplishments include first prizes at the Irving M. Klein International String Competition and the Corpus Christi International Competition for Piano and Strings.

An avid chamber musician, Lee is a founding member of both the Omni Quartet and Ensemble HD. With the Omni Quartet, she has performed throughout Northeast Ohio, presented concerts for the Philadelphia Chamber Music Society, and appeared in the Hall of Mirrors at Bratislava's Primate's Palace. With Ensemble HD—an inventive chamber ensemble committed to bringing classical music directly to audiences in informal settings and reaching listeners who might not otherwise encounter it in the concert hall—she recorded the acclaimed album Live at the Happy Dog, captured in performance at the Cleveland bar of the same name and first released on vinyl before its digital release.

Lee has toured with the Miami String Quartet as a guest first violinist and has collaborated with artists such as Nobuko Imai, Ida Kavafian, Samuel Rhodes, David Soyer, and Peter Wiley, among others. Her chamber music recordings also include the Brahms Horn Trio with Richard King, long-time principal horn of The Cleveland Orchestra, and internationally acclaimed pianist Orli Shaham.

She teaches and performs at several leading summer festivals and holds faculty positions at the Aspen Music Festival and School, Kent Blossom Music Festival, and the Ascent Music Festival. She also participates regularly in the Marlboro Music Festival and the Strings Music Festival, among others.

A devoted mentor, Lee's teaching is rooted in honoring each student's individuality—nurturing their strengths, guiding their artistic values, and uniting technique with musical purpose. She is committed to teaching how to practice with intention and to supporting her students as whole people as they grow into confident, resilient musicians. She has taught chamber music at the Cleveland Institute of Music and spent a decade on the violin faculty at Kent State University's Hugh A. Glauser School of Music. She has given masterclasses at numerous institutions, including the University of Michigan, University of Colorado Boulder, University of Miami's Frost School of Music, California State University, Fullerton, Northern Arizona University, Temple University Prep, and the San Francisco Conservatory of Music.