About Me

Praised for her “musical integrity” and “warmth” by the La Jolla Light, Korean-American cellist Julia Lee is passionate about creating authentic connections and relationships through her love of music. She is a prize winner of the Antonio Janigro International Cello Competition, recipient of the Mary Alice Cox Award, and first prize at the FFMC competition. As a soloist she has performed with the Ocala Symphony, Alachua County Symphony, and University of Florida chamber orchestra. Julia has collaborated with renowned artists such as Clive Greensmith, Noah Bendix-Balgley, Inon Barnatan, Blake Pouliot, Merry Peckham, Julie Albers, Molly Carr, Vanisha Gould, and Lucy Yeghiazaryan across various international stages. 

Julia’s 2023-2024 upcoming and recent performances include a debut performance in Alice Tully Hall as cellist of Edith String Quartet, a performing artist at the 2024 Music in The Vineyards Festival in Napa Valley, and a chamber music tour through Southern California in collaboration with Molly Carr’s nonprofit ‘Project Music Heals Us’. An avid chamber musician, Julia has appeared in festivals such as The Perlman Music Program, La Jolla Music Society’s SummerFest, Aspen Music Festival, Music In The Vineyards, and has spent her summers studying at Orford Musique, Music Academy of the West, Kneisel Hall, and the Zukerman Young Artists Program. She has worked closely with the Takács Quartet in their String Quartet Seminar, participated in Juilliard’s Chamberfest in 2019, and was the principal cellist of the 2022 Juilliard Chamber Orchestra. 

2023 marks Julia’s fourth year as principal cellist of The Juilliard Orchestra where she has played under the baton of Marin Alsop, David Robertson, Gustavo Dudamel, David Chan, Carlos Miguel Prieto, and Mei-Ann Chen. Recent orchestral performances include a side by side performance with the New York Philharmonic and Juilliard Orchestra, substituting with the New World Symphony in Miami, Florida, and principal cello for Juilliard’s 2X4 Kennedy Center collaboration with Jamie Laredo and Jennifer Koh. In addition to orchestral performances, Julia is also the Teaching Assistant to Eric Bartlett’s Orchestral Repertoire course at Juilliard. 

With an intense passion for connection across communities, Julia heavily involves herself in projects that allow her roles as a musician and artist to be strongly utilized amongst society. Her collaboration with Molly Carr and ‘Project: Music Heals Us’ allowed her to work closely with inmates of the Santa Rosa County Jail and Jericho Project to shorten their jail sentences by completing a composition course based off Beethoven’s String Quartets. In addition, Julia is involved with Orpheus Chamber Orchestra’s “Reflections” program, which provides interactive performances for those living with Alzheimer’s Disease. One of Julia’s most fulfilling personal projects has been co-founding the Buchholz High School String Orchestra (the school’s first development of any string program) in her hometown Gainesville, Florida, which allowed students to rent instruments from a local music shop, receive lessons, and perform together as a string orchestra. 

Julia received a Bachelor of Music at The Juilliard School where she studied with Darrett Adkins. She is currently pursuing a Master of Music at Juilliard where she studies with Joel Krosnick under a C.V Starr Scholarship. She is extremely grateful for her previous mentors, Wendy Warner and Chungsun Kim. Other inspirational figures in her life include Laurence Lesser and Frans Helmerson.

.