- From: Hong Kong
- Residence: Amsterdam
- Web: http://www.trey-lee.com
- Language: English, German, Chinese
- E-Mail: trey@alpenkammermusik.org
Critical Acclaim:
... plays with a beautifully lyrical tone that suits the material perfectly.
Strad Magazine
He's terrific! I'm so glad we worked together, and I hope to work with him again.
Composer Bright Sheng
Besides being talented, he is intelligent, his hands are fleet. Although he left the cello for five years, when he came back, he improved wondrously. In the long journey of a musician's life, his maturity can attract more audience.
Bernard Greenhouse, co-founder Beaux Arts Trio
Trey Lee, cello
As one of the most compelling young artists of our time, Trey Lee has garnered wide attention for his playing that combines intellectual sophistication with emotional sensitivity. Since winning the International Antonio Janigro Cello Competition in 2004, Trey has been actively engaged by festivals, concert halls, and orchestras around the world.
His debut album released by EMI in 2004 topped the classical charts and was enthusiastically received by audiences and critics, as exemplified by the review from STRAD, which hailed him to be "...a versatile cellist with the technical facility to tackle virtuoso repertory nimbly...[while he] plays with a beautifully lyrical tone that suits the material perfectly."
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Highlights of 2006
His new album, released in April this year under the EMI Classics label, features works by Schumann, Mendelssohn and Chopin, performed with pianist Noreen Cassidy-Polera and produced by multiple Grammy award-winner Da-Hong Seetoo. Other major highlights in 2006 include a memorable appearance at the Vught Concentration Camp Memorial Site in the Netherlands to celebrate the country's liberation during World War II, and live satellite radio broadcast performances with the Slovenian Philharmonic under Maestro Theodor Guschlbauer. Trey's outstanding performance at the prestigious Dubrovnik Festival won him praise from critics who said: "[The] broad style range of Trey Lee's program offered insight into great performance potential of the instrument. Prudent playing in which every phrasing has its cover in logical and musical feature of note satisfies even the most demanding listener....Outstanding compatibility of [the cello and piano] instruments, as well as sophisticated completeness, generated long applause of the audience at the Rector's Palace." For his distinguished performances this year, Trey received immediate invitations in Eastern and Western Europe and Asia, including an all-Grieg program, and a solo performance series of Richard Strauss' "Don Quixote" at the Royal Concertgebouw Hall with the Netherlands Philharmonic, among others, for their upcoming season.
Illustrious performance career
Trey has performed extensively at prestigious venues and festivals such as Moscow's Kremlin, Madrid's Auditorio Nacional, Helsinki's Finlandia Hall, Geneva's Batiment des Forces Motrice, New York's Lincoln Center, the Marlboro Music Festival, Dubrovnik Festival, Zagreb's Vatroslav Lisinski, Ljubljana's Cankarjev Dom, and with orchestras such as the Finnish Radio Symphony, the Helsinki Philharmonic, the Tapiola Sinfonietta, the Zagreb Soloists, the Zagreb Philharmonic, the Slovenian Philharmonic, the Beijing Symphony Orchestra, the Hong Kong Chinese Orchestra, and the Vasteras Sinfonietta of Sweden, among others.
Vanguard of contemporary music
As a versatile musician, Trey has received special recognition for his interpretation of contemporary works. Finland's newspaper Helsingin Sanomat praised him as someone who has "got great talent of understanding the language of modern music, it's gestures and meanings" in his bold interpretation of the Penderecki Concerto and Lutoslawski Concerto. In his 2005 Hong Kong premier of renowned composer Bright Sheng's "Spring Dream" Cello Concerto, Trey received high praise from Bright Sheng and was immediately invited by the composer for cooperation in the future.
Early success and career change
Trey's success in music began at the Juilliard School in the U.S., but he took a five-year break from the cello to study Economics at Harvard University and to work as a management consultant. Since picking up the cello again, he earned a Master's Degree in Music under cellist Laurence Lesser, and studied under renowned Swedish cellist Frans Helmerson in Europe. During this period, he also won major prizes at New York's Naumburg International Cello Competition, Helsinki's International Paulo Cello Competition, and the Geneva International Music Competition.
Popular with the Press
Featured by major television networks including CNN, Finnish Television, News Corp. Chinese television network Phoenix Satellite TV, and Time Warner's Asia satellite network CETV, Trey was also one of eight artists presented in the acclaimed "Outstanding Young Chinese Musicians" documentary series produced by Radio Television Hong Kong (RTHK). In recognition of Trey's continuous achievements and contributions to promoting music to the community, Asian media conglomerate Sing Tao Media Group awarded Trey the presitigious "Leader of the Year" Award in the Culture/Sports category in February 2005, presented by maestro Edo de Waart.
