Violinist Kristin Lee is Featured Soloist with Missoula Symphony Orchestra on March 2-3

Photo by Lauren Desberg available in hi-resolution at www.jensenartists.com/artists-profiles/kristin-lee

Violinist Kristin Lee is Featured Soloist with
Missoula Symphony Orchestra in Two Concerts

Conducted by Music Director Julia Tai
Performing Vivian Fung’s Violin Concerto No. 1

March 2 at 7:30pm and March 3 at 3pm
Dennison Theatre at University of Montana
32 Campus Drive | Missoula, MT

Tickets and more information: www.missoulasymphony.org/concerts/in-natures-realm

Kristin Lee: www.violinistkristinlee.com

Missoula, MT– On Saturday, March 2, 2024 at 7:30pm and Sunday, March 3, 2024 at 3pm violinist Kristin Lee will be the featured soloist with the Missoula Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Music Director Julia Tai –– the first female music director in the Missoula Symphony Orchestra’s history –– at Dennison Theatre at University of Montana (32 Campus Drive).

Lee will be the featured soloist in a performance of Vivian Fung’s Violin Concerto No. 1. The concerts will also include Dvořák’s In Nature's Realm Overture, Op.91 Beethoven’s Symphony No. 6 "Pastorale," and the world premiere of Nothing Gold Can Stay by Missoula composer Scott Billadaeu.

Vivian Fung’s Violin Concerto No. 1 was the result of an idea posed by Kristin Lee back in 2009, during rehearsals for a performance, Fung took Lee up on a proposal to write a piece for her. The musical foundations the new work were jointly inspired by Fung’s tour of Bali with a Balinese gamelan and her friendship with Lee, who had accompanied Fung to Bali with interest in experiencing what Fung describes as “the sounds that have moved [her]”, as well as Lee “wanting to understand where [Fung’s] ideas came from.”

Fung says of the work: “The concerto draws on the sights, sounds, and memories of Bali that have remained in my heart from the tour, as well as my getting to know Kristin [Lee], her firebrand style of playing, and, complementing that, the intense lyricism that she expresses as well. The work is in one continuous movement with several sections.

Kristin Lee’s accolades and sheer virtuosity as a violinist make any opportunity to witness her perform live an occasion worth much excitement. “Her technique is flawless, and she has a sense of melodic shaping that reflects an artistic maturity,” reports the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Lee has performed as soloist with leading orchestras around the world including The Philadelphia Orchestra, St. Louis Symphony, St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, New Jersey Symphony, Milwaukee 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, and many more.

In all of her performances and in the impressive array of roles she inhabits as a musician, Kristin Lee is dedicated to forging personal connections between audiences and classical music. She performs widely as a member of New York’s Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, including on tour in Italy, Croatia, Germany, Taiwan, and across the U.S. Always up for adventure, at the Moab Music Festival in Utah, Lee has performed in such unexpected places as rafting down the Colorado River, in a natural rock grotto, and in the magical landscape of the red rock canyons of the area. Lee founded Emerald City Music in Seattle, and as artistic director, presents eclectic, vibrant concert experiences in unusual venues, which leave both performers and audiences mutually transformed. The series was recently deemed "the beacon for the casual-classical movement" (CityArts). She is also committed to the future of classical music as a devoted mentor and educator for the next generation, serving on the faculty of the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music as an Assistant Professor of Violin, and teaching in residencies with the Singapore National Youth Orchestra, El Sistema Chamber Music Festival of Venezuela, and Music@Menlo’s Chamber Music Institute, among others.

Born in Seoul, Kristin Lee moved to the United States and studied under prestigious teachers including Sonja Foster, Catherine Cho, Dorothy DeLay, and Itzhak Perlman. Her many honors include 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. She is also the unprecedented First Prize winner of three concerto competitions at The Juilliard School, where she earned her Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees. Her violin was crafted in Italy in 1759 by Gennaro Gagliano and is generously loaned to her by Paul & Linda Gridley.

For more information, visit www.violinistkristinlee.com.

About Missoula Symphony Orchestra: The Missoula Symphony Orchestra and Chorale has delivered unique, live performances to Western Montana since 1954. Locals and visitors of all ages and backgrounds attend MSO concerts, from first-time symphony goers to dedicated sponsors and community members.

Under the leadership of our Music Director, Julia Tai, the company has expanded musical offerings and education programs. The current season features eight concerts, including four Masterworks Concerts, a Holiday Pops! concert, a Youth/Family concert, a Broadway concert, and a free outdoor summer concert. Education and community engagement programs include free mini concerts at the Missoula Public Library and its branches, Student Night@Dress Rehearsal, a coaching/mentorship program in regional public schools, a summer string camp, and important scholarship support to University of Montana music students. To learn more, visit us at MissoulaSymphony.org.

For Calendar Editors:

Description: Violinist Kristin Lee will be presented in two concerts on March 2 at 7:30pm and March 3 at 3pm, as the featured soloist with the Missoula Symphony Orchestra conducted by Music Director Julia Tai. A musician of impeccable skill whose performances The New York Classical Review describes as “vivid” and “fluid and expressive,” Lee will be the featured soloist in a performance of Vivian Fung’s Violin Concerto No. 1 –– a piece Fung wrote for Lee. Fung says the concerto “brings together my influence by non-Western traditional music, especially Balinese gamelan music, and my friendship with violinist Kristin Lee.” The program will also include Dvořák’s In Nature's Realm Overture, Op.91, Beethoven’s Symphony No. 6 "Pastorale," and the world premiere of Nothing Gold Can Stay by Missoula composer, Scott Billadaeu.

Short description: Violinist Kristin Lee –– a musician of impeccable skill whose performances are described as “vivid” and “fluid and expressive” (The New York Classical Review) –– will be presented in two concerts as the featured soloist with the Missoula Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Music Director Michelle Merrill. Lee will perform Vivian Fung’s Violin Concerto No. 1 –– a piece Fung wrote for Lee. Fung says the work blends her “influence by non-Western traditional music, especially Balinese gamelan music, and my friendship with violinist Kristin Lee.”

Concert details:
Who: Violinist Kristin Lee
Presented by the Missoula Symphony Orchestra
What: Music by Vivian Fung, Dvořák, Beethoven, and a world premiere by Scott Billadaeu
When: Saturday, March 2, 2024 7:30pm Sunday, March 3, 2024 3pm
Where: Dennison Theatre at University of Montana, 32 Campus Drive, Missoula, MT 59812
Tickets and information: www.missoulasymphony.org/concerts/in-natures-realm