Artist Series Concerts Presents Korean Violin Sensation SooBeen Lee

September 27, 2021 – Sarasota

Artist Series Concerts presents violinist SooBeen Lee, the first of several artists to perform this season from Young Concert Artists (YCA), the renowned non-profit organization that has been launching the careers of exceptional young musicians since 1961. Lee and acclaimed collaborative pianist Dina Vainshtein will perform on November 7, 4 p.m. at Temple Sinai, 4631 Lockwood Ridge Road Sarasota. Their program includes works by Hindemith, Prokofiev, Debussy, Suk and Russian composer Igor Frolov’s Fantasy on Porgy & Bess. Tickets are $40 and are available online at www.ArtistSeriesConcerts.org or by calling 941-306-1202, Monday – Friday, 10 a.m. – 4 p.m. 

Hailed as “Korea’s hottest violin prodigy,” SooBeen Lee has been praised by the Washington Post for her “poised presence, luxurious sound, spot-on intonation and a bow arm that surely will be the envy of her peers.” A professional musician since age nine and still just twenty years of age, Lee has already earned an international reputation as one of the most prodigiously talented instrumentalists to emerge in recent years. She has appeared as soloist with every major Korean orchestra, including the Seoul and Busan Philharmonics and the KBS (Korean Broadcasting System) Symphony Orchestra. She has also performed for the Secretary-General of the United Nations and the King and Queen of Malaysia. 

Lee began studying at the age of four and at age eight won the National Competition of the Korean Chamber Orchestra. She took first prize at the Russia International Youth Violin Competition the following year and then captured first prize at the 2013 Moscow International David Oistrakh Violin Competition. In 2014, she won the Young Concert Artists International Auditions and was also honored with YCA’s Slomovic Prize for her Washington, DC recital debut. She has since performed in such major locales and venues as Alice Tully Hall, New York’s Morgan Library and Museum, the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC, in Palm Beach with the Palm Beach Symphony, and at Boston’s Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum. She was a featured artist at Young Concert Artists’ 60^th anniversary concert, which was live streamed in May and in July was one of a handful of outstanding young professional artists chosen to participate in the Ravinia Steans Music Institute at the renowned Ravinia festival. 

Like many young performers, Lee is also a savvy user of social media and especially YouTube, where her performance videos have amassed over 8,000 followers and 560,000 views worldwide, gaining fans for herself and for classical music in general. YouTube has influenced Lee in other ways as well. It was while watching renowned violinist Miriam Fried there that Lee decided to work with Fried at the New England Conservatory, where she continues to study today. 

Lee currently performs on a 1794 Giuseppe Guadagnini violin, on loan to her from the Kumho Asiana Cultural Foundation.

“SooBeen is the first artist to perform with us this season from Young Concert Artists, an ongoing collaboration that has resulted in several groundbreaking performances for us over the years,” says Marcy Miller, executive director of Artist Series Concerts. “Like so many YCA artists, SooBeen is that rare and wonderful combination of youth, extraordinary virtuosity and artistic maturity beyond her years. With emergent young artists like her, the future of classical music looks certainly bright.”

Lee will be joined by Boston-based pianist Dina Vainshtein, who is known for her sensitive and virtuosic collaborations with some of the most promising musicians of recent years. She has performed at the Alice Tully and Weill Recital Halls and was the recipient of a special prize for the best collaborative pianist at the Tchaikovsky International Competition.

COVID-19 update: Artist Series Concerts’ top priority remains the health and safety of its patrons, performers and staff. The organization is a partner in SafeArts Sarasota and will be following the policies and protocols set forth by this initiative. Protocols will continue to be revisited and revised and Artist Series Concerts will also continue to comply fully with the current requirements of each of its eight venues. Updates and the most recent COVID-19 statement can be seen at www.ArtistSeriesConcerts.org.