Chi Lee

Chi has enjoyed performing as an orchestral and chamber musician throughout the world. Born in Kaohsiung, Taiwan, she studied in Hong Kong at the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts before coming to the United States, and holds a bachelor’s degree from Manhattan School of Music and a master’s degree from Rice University. Her mentors include members of the National Symphony, the Chicago Symphony, the Houston Symphony, Hong Kong Philharmonic, Fort Worth Symphony, American String Quartet, Tokyo String Quartet and the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center.

Chi most recently joined the Richmond Symphony Orchestra as associate principal viola in 2018. She has performed in leading concert halls throughout the world such as Carnegie Hall, Alice Tully Hall, Rose Theater at Jazz at Lincoln Center, Musik- und Kongresshalle Lübeck, Laeiszhalle Hamburg, Admiralspalast Berlin, and Snapes Proms. Her performances in international festivals include the Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival in Rendsburg, Germany, the Britten-Pears Young Artists Programme in Aldeburgh, United Kingdom, Kent/Blossom Music Festival, Bard Music Festival, and Asian Youth Orchestra, where she toured to Tokyo, Osaka, Beijing, and Shanghai. Her orchestral work has lead to working with many of the finest conductors such as Semyon Bychkov, Manfred Honeck, Krysztof Urbanski, Christoph Eschenbach, Fabio Luisi, Neeme Järvi, Marin Alsop, and Michael Sanderling. Outside of performing with the Richmond Symphony Orchestra, she has performed with orchestras that include the Alabama Symphony Orchestra, Northbrook Symphony Orchestra, Elmhurst Symphony Orchestra, and Abilene Philharmonic. Chi was a fellow of The Orchestra Now from 2016 to 2018 where she regularly performed in Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center and the Metropolitan Museum in New York City.

As a chamber musician, Chi is a founding member of the Florestan String Quartet, based in New York. The Florestan String Quartet has toured Taiwan, performing throughout the country in concerts and educational workshops for students. She has been teaching faculty at the Bard College Conservatory Preparatory Division and the Amadeus Music School in New York City. 

As a passionate music educator, Chi has served as faculty at the Bard College Conservatory of Music Preparatory Division in 2018, where she also taught at the preparatory division’s summer camp. She also taught non-major students at Rice University in 2015. She has experience teaching a wide range of ages, from 3 to 65, and is comfortable teaching one-on-one lessons as well as group classes. Chi was awarded the Best Teacher Award from the KRB NY International Competition in 2012 and was winner of the Lillian Fuchs Chamber Music Competition in 2013.

Chi currently serves as Associate Principal Viola at the Florida Orchestra. For more information about Chi’s teaching and her teaching philosophy, please check out her Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/SilverSpringStringStudio