First Violin
Ji Yeon Lee joined the Seattle Symphony’s First Violin section in the 2024/2025 season. A native of South Korea, Lee started playing the violin at the age of 4, making a successful debut with the Indianapolis Symphony at age 15. Along with her soloist appearances, Lee is a top prize winner of competitions, including Indianapolis Concerto Competition, Cincinnati Arts Association Overture Awards, Bloomington Symphony Orchestra Youth Competition and Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition. Lee has been an active soloist as well as a chamber musician traveling around the world with her quartet. Polaris Quartet was the gold medalist at 2011 Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition Junior division and was featured on several global stages, including NPR’s “From the Top” and the Mozarteum University Salzburg. Lee has taken part in music festivals such as Taipei Music Academy and Festival, Aspen Music Festival, International Great Mountains Music Festival, Banff Music Festival and Ishikawa Music Academy. Lee received her bachelor’s degree from Korea National University of Arts, where graduated top of her class, and earned her master’s at Rice University Shepherd School of Music. Her mentors are Won-Bin Yim, Nam Yun Kim, Koichiro Harada and Paul Kantor.
