Violinist Kristin Lee to Release Debut Solo Album 'American Sketches'

Violinist Kristin Lee has announced 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. New single, Four Airs: IV. Air by Kevin Puts is out now.

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.”

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.

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