Nov. 15: Violinist Kristin Lee to Release Debut Solo Album American Sketches on First Hand Records – Performing Music from the Album in Four Concerts Across the U.S.
Violinist Kristin Lee’s Debut Solo Album
American Sketches to be Released on First Hand Records
Worldwide Release: November 15, 2024
Pre-Order Available Now
Watch the Album Trailer
Featuring the Music of Amy Beach, Henry 'Harry' Thacker Burleigh, James Louis ‘J.J.’ Johnson, Scott Joplin, Thelonious Monk, John Novacek,
Kevin Puts, and Jonathan Ragonese
American Sketches Release Performances
Presented by Emerald City Music
October 18-19 2024 | Seattle & Olympia, WA
Presented by Linton Chamber Music Series
February 16, 2025 | Cincinnati, OH
Presented by The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center
March 20, 2025 | New York, NY
Downloads and CDs available to press on request
“[Kristin Lee] delivered a powerfully constructed and played programme, one of the most satisfying recitals that I’ve heard in years.” – The Strad
www.ViolinistKristinLee.com | www.FirstHandRecords.com
Violinist Kristin Lee announces her highly anticipated debut solo album, American Sketches, which will be released on Friday, November 15, 2024 on First Hand Records. A milestone for the internationally acclaimed soloist, educator, chamber musician, and artistic director, American Sketches is Lee’s debut full-length recording. Pianists Jeremy Ajani Jordan and Jun Cho join Lee on the album, with Jordan also contributing arrangements of selected works. American Sketches reflects the distinct and recognizable sound of American music and its rich history, encompassing both Lee’s journey as an American, as well as the journeys of the composers she has selected.
A violinist of remarkable versatility and impeccable technique, Lee has been praised in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, which reports: “Her technique is flawless, and she has a sense of melodic shaping that reflects an artistic maturity.” The Strad writes, “She seems entirely comfortable with stylistic diversity, which is one criterion that separates the run-of-the-mill instrumentalists from true artists.”
American Sketches includes: Four Rags (1999) by John Novacek, Girl Crazy: But Not For Me (1930) (Arr. Jeremy Ajani Jordan, B. 1989) by George Gershwin, Lament (1954) (Arr. J.A. Jordan) by James Louis ‘J.J.’ Johnson, The Entertainer (1902) (Arr. J.A. Jordan) by Scott Joplin; Romance, Op. 23 (1893) by Amy Beach; Southland Sketches (1916) by Henry 'Harry' Thacker Burleigh non-poem 4 (2017) (Arr. for Violin and Piano, 2018) by Jonathan Ragonese Four Airs: IV. Air (Previously Called Aria) (2000) by Kevin Puts; Monk's Mood (1943-44) by Thelonious Monk.
In celebration of the release of American Sketches, Lee will be performing works from the album as part of four concerts during the 2024-2025 season, each in a city that she is strongly connected to. On October 18-19, 2024, she will perform music from the album with pianist Jun Cho as part of the opening weekend concerts for Season 09 of Emerald City Music, of which she is the founding Artistic Director, in Seattle and Olympia, WA. On February 16, 2025, she will join forces with pianist Michael Stephen Brown for a concert presented by Linton Chamber Music Series in Cincinnati, OH, where Lee is on the faculty of the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music. Then on March 20, 2025, Lee, again joined by Brown, will be presented by The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center in New York, NY, where Lee has been a longtime member.
American Sketches has a personal resonance for Lee. A native of Seoul, Korea, she emigrated to the U.S. at the age of seven. During her childhood, playing the violin was a refuge from bullying and racism for Kristin – she moved to the U.S. not speaking any English, and felt the violin became her voice. As a foreign-born citizen of the U.S., Lee was compelled to select this repertoire to express her pride in the country she now calls her own, and has recorded works by American composers that have a distinct and recognizable sound of American music and its rich history.
Of what American Sketches means to her, Kristin Lee says:
“My inspiration for American Sketches lies in the celebration of differences. It is the differences of people, environment, and encounters that ignite our curiosity, fuel our motivation, and inspire our creativity. By accepting and appreciating these differences, we pave the way for changes to our society. Whilst adopting change is difficult for many people, it is a critical component in our ever-evolving world, particularly within the musical communities. The history of American music is a great example of this notion. From the Indigenous sounds of the Native Americans to the influences of Western Europe and Africa, the American sound merged and evolved into what we know as Ragtime, Appalachian Folk, Jazz, and so much more. The variety of musical styles represents the diverse culture of America, showcasing the beauty of individual expression and the celebration of American history.”
Kristin Lee on the Music on American Sketches:
Henry ‘Harry’ Thacker Burleigh introduced the complex but soulful tunes of American Spirituals to the classical realm, and inspired composers like Antonín Dvořák as he was exploring the Americas. In his Southland Sketches, Burleigh embodies a similar approach by applying his own beautiful tunes in the violin with simple but gorgeous harmonies in the piano accompaniment.
American music would not be represented without the innovation of the giants like Scott Joplin, George Gershwin, J.J. Johnson, and Thelonious Monk. Each of these luminaries left a mark on the musical landscape, revolutionizing their respective sounds: Joplin pioneering ragtime, Gershwin applying jazz idioms to classical compositions, Johnson embracing bebop with the trombone, and Monk fearlessly challenging and redefining the jazz traditions.
Four Rags by John Novacek pays homage to Scott Joplin’s iconic style, and non-poem 4 by Jonathan Ragonese represents the jazz idiom through written compositions and improvised sections. These two pieces stand out for their technical intricacy, yet they also offer a vibrant and impassioned musical journey. I have to make note of the fact that Jeremy [Ajani Jordan] improvised through the recording sessions for the arrangements to Gershwin, Joplin, Johnson, and Monk. For those of you who are curious about sheet music for these works, I wish you the very best of luck since it lives in Jeremy’s genius mind!
I also owe it to Jeremy for giving me the courage to record Monk’s Mood. He introduced me to Monk’s music, and although I was instantly drawn to his sound, I was uncertain if I could truly capture Monk’s style on the violin. In this work, my goal was to emulate the vulnerable yet poignant long tones of John Coltrane’s saxophone performance alongside Monk from the iconic 1957 Live from Carnegie Hall recording. Thankfully, the outcome has exceeded my expectations, making this perhaps my favorite track on the album.
The lyrical works on the album are represented by Air by Kevin Puts and Romance, Op. 23 by Amy Beach. I’ve woven these works within the tracks to encapsulate the ultimate essence of music – the emotional connection. Whilst we embrace the diverse sounds and the evolutionary changes, I truly believe that connecting with people on an emotional level remains a constant throughout music history.
About Kristin Lee:
As a soloist, Kristin Lee has appeared with leading orchestras including The Philadelphia Orchestra, St. Louis Symphony, St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, New Jersey Symphony, Rochester Philharmonic, Milwaukee Symphony, Hawai’i Symphony, Tacoma Symphony, Hong Kong Philharmonic, Nordic Chamber Orchestra of Sweden, Ural Philharmonic of Russia, Korean Broadcasting Symphony, Guiyang Symphony Orchestra of China, Orquesta Sinfonica Nacional of Dominican Republic, Singapore National Youth Orchestra, and many others.
She has performed on the world’s finest concert stages, including Carnegie Hall, Avery Fisher Hall, the Kennedy Center, Philadelphia’s Kimmel Center, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Steinway Hall’s Salon de Virtuosi, Philadelphia Chamber Music Society, the Ravinia Festival, Philadelphia’s World Cafe Live, (Le) Poisson Rouge in New York, the Louvre Museum in Paris, Washington, D.C.’s Phillips Collection, and Korea’s Kumho Art Gallery.
An accomplished chamber musician, Kristin Lee became a member of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center after winning The Bowers Program audition and completing the program's three-year residency. Kristin performs at Lincoln Center in New York and on tour with CMS throughout each season. For seven years, she was a principal artist of Camerata Pacifica in Santa Barbara, sitting as The Bernard Gondos Chair. Lee has also appeared in chamber music programs at Music@Menlo, La Jolla Festival, Medellín Festicámara of Colombia, Moab Music Festival, the Sarasota Music Festival, Chamber Music Sedona, Music in the Vineyards, Festspiele Mecklenburg-Vorpommern of Germany, the Hong Kong Chamber Music Festival and the Bridgehampton Chamber Music Festival, among many others.
In addition to her prolific performance career, Lee is also a devoted educator. She is on the faculty of the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music as an Assistant Professor of Violin. She has also been in residence with the Singapore National Youth Orchestra, the El Sistema Chamber Music Festival of Venezuela, and is a summer faculty member at Music@Menlo’s Chamber Music Institute.
Lee is the founding artistic director of Emerald City Music (ECM), a chamber music series that presents authentically unique concert experiences and bridges the divide between the highest caliber classical music and the many diverse communities of the Puget Sound region of Washington State. Since 2015, she has crafted unconventional and captivating programs that have led to Emerald City Music’s renown for its eclectic, intimate, and vibrant classical chamber music experiences. The series was recently deemed "the beacon for the casual-classical movement" (CityArts).
An advocate for living composers, Kristin Lee has collaborated with many of today’s prominent composers, including Vivian Fung, Andy Akiho, Patrick Castillo, Jakub Ciupiński, Shobana Raghavan, Steve Coleman, Jeremy Jordan, and more. She made the world premiere recording of Vivian Fung’s Violin Concerto, written for her, which won a Juno Award and is available on Naxos.
Kristin Lee’s honors include an Avery Fisher Career Grant, top prizes in the Walter W. Naumburg Competition and the Astral Artists National Auditions, and awards from the Trondheim Chamber Music Competition, Trio di Trieste Premio International Competition, the SYLFF Fellowship, Dorothy DeLay Scholarship, the Aspen Music Festival’s Violin Competition, the New Jersey Young Artists’ Competition, and the Salon de Virtuosi Scholarship Foundation. Her performances have been broadcast on PBS’s “Live from Lincoln Center,” the Kennedy Center Honors, WFMT Chicago’s “Rising Stars” series, WRTI in Philadelphia, and on WQXR in New York. She also appeared on Perlman in Shanghai, a nationally broadcast PBS documentary that chronicled a historic cross-cultural exchange between the Perlman Music Program and Shanghai Conservatory.
Born in Seoul, Lee moved to the United States and studied under prestigious teachers including Sonja Foster, Catherine Cho, Dorothy DeLay, Donald Weilerstein, and Itzhak Perlman. Lee holds a Master’s degree from The Juilliard School. Lee’s violin was crafted in Naples, Italy in 1759 by Gennaro Gagliano and is generously loaned to her by Paul & Linda Gridley.
American Sketches | Kristin Lee | First Hand Records
Release Date: November 15, 2024 (Worldwide)
Recorded at Oktaven Audio, Mount Vernon, New York, USA
November 21, 2019 (tracks 5–7, 13–14)
March 5, 2020 (tracks 1–4, 9–12 and 15)
May 15, 2023 (track 8)
American Sketches – Tracklist
John Novacek (B. 1964) Four Rags (1999) * [9:56]
1. No. 1 Intoxication [1:53]
2. No. 2 4th Street Drag [4:01]
3. No. 3 Cockles [2:32]
4. No. 4 Full Stride Ahead [1:30]
George Gershwin (1898-1937)
5. Girl Crazy: But Not For Me (1930) (Arr. Jeremy Ajani Jordan, B. 1989) * [2:24]
James Louis ‘J.J.’ Johnson (1924-2001)
6. Lament (1954) (Arr. J.A. Jordan) * [5:09]
Scott Joplin (1868-1917)
7. The Entertainer (1902) (Arr. J.A. Jordan) * [2:22]
Amy Beach (1867-1944)
8. Romance, Op. 23 (1893) ^ [5:53]
Henry 'Harry' Thacker Burleigh (1866-1949) Southland Sketches (1916) * [11:06]
9. No. 1 Andante [2:34]
10. No. 2 Adagio Ma Non Troppo [2:28]
11. No. 3 Allegretto Grazioso [3:18]
12. No. 4 Allegro [2:44]
Jonathan Ragonese (B. 1989) [6:29]
13. non-poem 4 (2017) (Arr. For Violin And Piano, 2018) *
Kevin Puts (B. 1972) [4:29]
14. Four Airs: IV. Air (Previously Called Aria) (2000) *
Thelonious Monk (1917-1982) [5:06]
15. Monk's Mood (1943-44) *
Total time: [53:16]
*Jeremy Ajani Jordan, piano
^Jun Cho, piano
Produced by Kristin Lee and Ryan Streber
Recorded by Ryan Streber
Edited and Mastered by Edwin Kenzon Huet and Ryan Streber