Violinist Byungchan Lee is a sought-after performer in solo, chamber, and orchestral concerts on the international stage. First garnering global attention as prizewinner of the inaugural 2009 Yuri Yankelevitch International Violin Competition, he was selected as one of Canadian Broadcasting Corporation’s “Next!” classical music stars in 2015 and was subsequently named one of their “30 Hot Canadian Classical Musicians Under 30” in 2017.  He has been featured in The Strad and La Scena Musicale, and heard on CBC/Radio-Canada, ICI Musique, The New Classical FM and BBC Radio 3 (UK).  He has also performed in most major halls across Canada, and in prominent venues around the world.

He was co-concertmaster of the Juilliard Orchestra from 2017-2018 and also led the Juilliard Chamber Orchestra as co-principal violin.  Recently, he has performed with the Sarasota Opera Orchestra, Toronto Symphony Orchestra and the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra where currently he is on trial for the position of principal second violin. 

Recognized for his leadership in music, Lee holds a lifetime Sylff Association Fellowship, and performed in senior homes, hospitals and rehabilitation centers throughout New York City as a Gluck Community Service Fellow.  In summer 2020 he collaborated with Concerts in Care to bring live music to long-term care homes across Ontario, and coordinated Mécénat Musica’s “Mini-Concerts Santé – a series of 11 free outdoor concerts in disadvantaged neighborhoods throughout metropolitan Toronto to help mitigate the effects of social isolation during the COVID-19 pandemic.  In addition to relaunching these projects in summer 2021, he served as Artistic Consultant and Producer for the Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto.

Lee received his Master of Music in 2018 from The Juilliard School and received his Bachelor of Music in 2015 and Artist Diploma in 2016 from McGill University’s Schulich School of Music, where he was recipient of the Lloyd Carr-Harris Scholarship and the Golden Violin Award – Canada’s largest collegiate music prize.  In 2019, Lee was selected for the Rebanks Family Fellowship and International Performance Residency Program at the Royal Conservatory of Music.

Lee plays on an 1869 Jean-Baptiste Vuillaume violin and bow on loan from the Canada Council for the Arts Musical Instrument Bank.  He gratefully acknowledges the support of the Sylva Gelber Music Foundation (2017, 2021), British Columbia Arts Council (2016, 2017, 2020), and the Vancouver Korean-Canadian Scholarship Foundation (2017).