Nicole Lee

Biography

Nicole Lee, a native of Vancouver, Canada, is a pianist acclaimed as both a soloist and a collaborative artist. The Bradenton Herald lauds, “Lee is a consummate artist who exhibits a carefully honed touch with the beauty and refinement of fine porcelain.” As a soloist, she has performed at the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, the Sarasota Opera House, the Orpheum in Vancouver, Canada, and for CBC Radio in Ottawa, Canada. She has also performed as soloist with several symphony orchestras, including the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra, the Florida West Coast Symphony, and the New Westminster Symphony, and Kalamazoo Philharmonic. Her awards include First Runner-Up in the International Stravinsky Awards Competition, First Prize in the Pasadena Fine Arts Club Competition, and Semi-finalist in the Royal Over-Seas League Competition in London.

Lee is also active as a chamber musician. She was praised as “outstanding” by The Strad for her work with violinist Gregory Maytan in their first CD, Scandinavia. The recording was selected by The Strad as the top recital CD of April 2009 and highly praised by Strings Magazine and the American Record Guide. She continues to perform collaborative recitals with instrumentalists and especially enjoys presenting 4-hand piano repertoire with colleague Joseph Bognar. Ms. Lee has recently performed on the concert series at the Grand Rapids Art Museum, Saugatuck Hempy Keyboard series, and the Dame Myra Hess Concert Series in Chicago.

Lee holds B.M. and M.M. degrees in piano performance from the University of Southern California, where she studied with John Perry. She was selected as the outstanding graduate of the Keyboard Studies Department in both her graduate and undergraduate programs. She also holds performance and teacher’s diplomas from the Royal Conservatory of Music of Toronto and Licentiate and Fellowship diplomas from the Trinity College of London. She is currently a member of the music faculty at Valparaiso University.