Dr. Yena Lee is a Korean-Canadian violinist whose performances span North America, Europe, and Asia, acclaimed for her refined artistry and compelling voice across both classical and contemporary repertoire. A laureate of numerous international competitions—including the Wolfgang Marschner, Shean, Canadian Music Competition, International Schubert Competition Vienna, Young Texas Artist Competition, and Eckhardt-Gramatté Competition. At fourteen, she became the youngest recipient of British Columbia’s Most Promising Musician Award and later the youngest honoree of Germany’s prestigious JGU-Preis.

As a soloist, Dr. Lee has appeared with orchestras such as the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra, Adrian Ensemble Italy, Mainz Hochschulorchester, Boston Chamber Orchestra, Grande Ronde Symphony Orchestra, Mainzer Virtuosi Kammerorchester, Neumeyer Consort Frankfurt, Casalmaggiore Festival Orchestra, Vancouver Metropolitan Orchestra, Vancouver Pilgrim Orchestra, Vancouver Youth Symphony Orchestra, Vergilius Symphony Orchestra, West Coast Symphony, with performances featured on major European arts channels and Canadian CBC Radio. Her concerts have taken her to venues including David Geffen Hall at Lincoln Center, Museo del Violino in Cremona, St. John’s Square, Orpheum Theatre, and Symphony Hall, and her recordings with Sheva Labels include works by Vivaldi, Piazzolla, and Peter Seabourne.

Yena received masterclasses with Frank Huang, Ilya Kaler, Leonidas Kavakos, Ida Kavafian, Soovin Kim, Elmar Oliveira, Dora Schwarzberg, and Arnold Steinhardt. She is an enthusiast of promoting the works of current living composers of all styles. She has premiered and participated in various conferences that featured works by Jiyoun Chung, Hans Kunstovny, Hyekyung Lee, Nicole Lizee, Peter Seabourne, and Bramwell Tovey. Equally devoted to chamber music, she has collaborated with leading ensembles and artists, working with members of the Artis, Borromeo, Brentano, Danish, Dover, Emerson, Hagen, Takács, and Tokyo quartets, and participating in projects led by John Adams, Joshua Bell, Julius Berger, James Conlon, Valery Gergiev, Midori Goto, Yo-Yo Ma, Ken-David Masur, Peter Oundjian, Krzysztof Penderecki, Larry Rachleff, José Serebrier, and Bramwell Tovey.

As an orchestral musician, she served as concertmaster for Mainzer Virtuosi Kammerorchester, Rice Shepherd School of Music Symphony Orchestra, Vergilius Symphony Orchestra; guest concertmaster with Oklahoma City Philharmonic; associate concertmaster with New Mexico Philharmonic; assistant concertmaster with Annapolis Symphony Orchestra; and regular substitute violinist with Houston Symphony Orchestra and Mercury Chamber Orchestra. She regularly collaborates with the Boston Chamber Orchestra, Brightmusic Chamber Ensemble, Houston Symphony Orchestra, Kaleidoscope Orchestra, Kinetic Ensemble, Lucete Ensemble, Mercury Chamber Orchestra, New York Artists Guild Ensemble, Vergilius Chamber Orchestra, and Oklahoma Virtuosi Chamber Orchestra.

In 2018, Dr. Lee was appointed assistant artistic director of the Casalmaggiore International Music Festival. She has been invited as a guest artist and has taught masterclasses at the Casalmaggiore International Music Festival (Italy), Eckelhauser Musikfestival (Germany), Euro Arts Academy (Poland), InterHarmony Festival (Italy), the International Academy of Arts Festival (Belgium), Musicalta International Festival (France), Musiktage am Rhein Music Festival (Germany), Norfolk Festival (United Kingdom), Talent Music Festival Brescia (Italy), and Varna International Festival (United States). She was also invited to judge the inaugural Dallas International Violin Competition and the Hudson International Music Competition.

A committed educator, Dr. Lee has enthusiastically taught musicians at all levels, from amateur to professional, for more than two decades. Her students have matriculated into prestigious institutions such as the Colburn School, Glen Gould School, Hochschule fur Musik und darstellende Kunst Wien, Juilliard, Indiana University, and the New England Conservatory to name a few. Additionally, they have distinguished themselves by participating and winning in competitions such as the Brahms, Chicago Violin Competition, Enescu, Montreal, Queen Elisabeth, Sibelius, and YoungArts competitions. Her private students have been selected to perform in Verbier Festival Orchestra (junior) and served as concertmasters for NYO and All-State Orchestras.

Dedicated to mentorship and pedagogy, Dr. Lee is Assistant Professor of Violin at the University of Oklahoma. She has given masterclasses at Baylor University, Boston University, Bowling Green State University, Butler University, Hochschule für Musik Mainz, Louisiana State University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, St. Olaf College, Texas A&M University, West Texas A&M University, University of Southern Mississippi, and the University of Houston.

Dr. Lee’s mentors include Taras Gabora, Lawrie Hill, Nai-Yuan Hu, Hyo Kang, Lisa Kim, Cho-Liang Lin, Anne Shih, and Peter Zazofsky. She completed her Diplom-Orchestermusik and Konzertexamen (Artist Diploma) as the youngest candidate at the Hochschule für Musik in Mainz, Germany. She received a Master of Music and a Master of Musical Arts from the Yale School of Music, and a Doctor of Musical Arts from the Rice University Shepherd School of Music. Dr. Lee has served as a teaching assistant to her mentors at Hochschule für Musik Mainz, Yale University, Boston University, and Rice University. 

Teaching Summary:

My teaching philosophy is shaped by my own unconventional beginning on the violin, which taught me the transformative power of imagination, empathy, and consistent encouragement. I strive to help each student recognize the highest levels of quality, discipline, and professionalism while nurturing their unique artistic voice through collaboration and personalized instruction. Whether guiding them through performance anxiety or inspiring them in chamber music settings, I aim to build confidence and curiosity at every step. Above all, I am committed to helping students grow into expressive, thoughtful musicians who feel empowered both on and off the stage.