SooBeen Lee, violin

Violinist SooBeen Lee has been praised by The Washington Post for “her poised presence, sumptuous sound, flawless intonation, and a bow arm that will undoubtedly be the envy of her peers.” She has already appeared as a soloist with all the major Korean orchestras, including the Seoul and Busan Philharmonics and the KBS (Korean Broadcasting System) Symphony Orchestra. Other notable distinctions include performances for former United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, at the Blue House for the King and Queen of Malaysia, with the Wuhan Philharmonic Orchestra of China at the Seoul Arts Center, as well as for numerous state guests in Korea.

First Prize winner at the 2013 David Oistrakh International Violin Competition and at the 2014 YCA Susan Wadsworth International Auditions, SooBeen also received the Slomovic Soloist Prize, supporting her Washington recital debut at the Kennedy Center, as well as the Michaels Award, which enabled her New York recital debut. She has earned three performance awards, including the Korean Concert Society Prize. She made her New York concerto debut performing Chausson’s Poème with the Orchestra of St. Luke’s at Alice Tully Hall.

SooBeen has appeared as concerto soloist with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the Detroit Symphony, the Oregon Symphony, the Indianapolis Symphony, the Orchestre symphonique de Montréal, the Rockford Symphony, the Plymouth Philharmonic, the Longwood Symphony (Boston), the Palm Beach Symphony, and the Aiken Symphony. She has given recitals at the Duszniki Chopin Festival (Poland), the Usedom Music Festival (Germany), the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, for the Buffalo Chamber Music Society, at the Morgan Library & Museum, Merkin Hall (Kaufman Music Center), Rockefeller University, and the Cosmos Club in Washington, D.C.

SooBeen began studying the violin at the age of four. At the 2022 Indianapolis Competition, she received a prize as well as the special award for “Best Performance of a Work by Paganini, Ernst or Milstein” for her interpretation of Milstein’s Paganiniana Variations. Following this success, she won the Bronze Medal at the Montreal International Musical Competition.

SooBeen performs on a 1794 Giuseppe Guadagnini violin from Cremona, generously loaned by the Kumho Cultural Foundation.

Since September 2025, she has been Artist in residence at the Queen Elisabeth Music Chapel, under the direction of Augustin Dumay.

Last updated: 16 February 2026