Song Hee Lee, Cello
Joonghun Cho, Piano
Beethoven Cello SOnata No. 1
Schubert / Brahms Song Transcriptions
All are welcome to join us in the Knox Sanctuary
Free admission / Freewill offering
We are grateful to partner with this group of emerging classical musicians as they present two commuter concerts, free for all, in our sanctuary.
Musician Biographies
Song Hee Lee
Korea-born cellist Song Hee Lee joined the Toronto Symphony Orchestra in September 2022.
Prior to this, she served as the principal cellist of the Verbier Festival Orchestra, Music Academy of the West Orchestra, Manhattan School of Music Orchestra, and Jacobs School of Music Philharmonic Orchestra. In recent years, during the pandemic, she also served as a guest principal with the Daejeon Philharmonic Orchestra, and an assistant principal with the Tongyeong International Music Festival Orchestra and Symphony S.O.N.G. in Korea.
As a musician, Lee is a recipient of Verbier Festival Awards and a finalist of the Kirishima International Music Festival Competition. Lee has collaborated with highly esteemed artists such as Menahem Pressler, Kurt Masur, James Conlon, Plácido Domingo, Jeremy Denk, Richard O’Neill, and Quatuor Ébène. She has also performed under the baton of many conductors including Gustavo Dudamel, Alan Gilbert, Valery Gergiev, Fabio Luisi, and Gerard Schwarz. She has frequently performed in both the US and South Korea in well-known venues including Carnegie Hall, Alice Tully Hall, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Walt Disney Concert Hall, Seoul Arts Center, and Lotte Concert Hall.
Lee studied with Kyung-Ok Park and Hyun-shil Kim in her youth in Korea, and started her undergraduate studies at Colburn School with Ronald Leonard after she graduated from Seoul Arts High School. She received her bachelor’s degree from the Manhattan School of Music, with a full scholarship, under David Geber, and began her studies with Timothy Eddy at The Juilliard School soon after for her master’s degree. Lee was in the process of obtaining her performance degree in orchestral studies at the Jacobs School of Music with Eric Kim right before she joined the TSO.
Aside from playing cello, Lee loves coffee, baking cakes and cookies, playing golf, swimming, sunbathing, and animals.
Joonghun Cho
An avid performing artist, Joonghun Cho is a versatile pianist, chamber musician as well as a pedagogue. He has concertized widely giving performances across South Korea, Spain, Portugal, Italy, Slovakia, the UK, Canada, Japan and the United States in many prestigious venues. He has appeared as a soloist several times with orchestras such as Ann Arbor Symphony Orchestra, Flint Symphony Orchestra, Kalamazoo Philharmonia and Brescia Master Orchestra. Joonghun recently has been invited to perform as a guest artist at many music festivals and concert series, such as Gijón International Piano Festival, Palmetto International Piano Festival, Porto Pianofest, Yeon-Eum Summer Music Festival, Concerts at 100, Nine Sparrows Arts Foundation Chamber Music Series, Douglas Haas Legacy Concert Series, Festival Internacional de Música José Luis Vega "Pelis" and American Liszt Society Festival. His recital in 2021 at Jardín Botánico Atlántico de Gijón in Spain has been acclaimed by El Comercio as “a masterful performance which demonstrated the reason for his reputation.” He has also given recitals at various schools, such as Oberlin Conservatory of Music, Oakland University, Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama, Arizona State University, Eastman School of Music, University of Michigan, Conservatório de Música do Porto and Conservatorio Profesional de Música y Danza de Gijón.
Joonghun has won many prizes in numerous competitions including gold medal Vienna International Music Competition, first prize Master Orchestra International Concerto Competition, second prize William C. Byrd Young Artist Competition, first prize International Chopin Piano Competition in Japan, second prize Schimmel USASU International Piano Competition, third prize Glasgow International Piano Competition for Young Pianists, first prize Sungjung Music Concours, second prize Kookmin Ilbo Music Concours and second prize Korea-Germany Brahms Association Music Concours.
Born in Suwon, South Korea, Joonghun received his early education in Seoul at the Yewon School and Seoul Art High School where he studied with Min Sook Jeon, Tong-il Han and Hyoung-Joon Chang. After immigrating to the United States, he went to Rochester, New York to study at the Eastman School of Music with Barry Snyder where he obtained his Bachelor of Music in piano performance. Thereafter he moved to Michigan to study with Logan Skelton at the University of Michigan where he completed his Master of Music and Doctor of Musical Arts. He is currently based in Toronto, Canada, and serves as a faculty member at Palmetto International Piano Festival and an artistic director at the Gibson Centre Classical Concert Series.