Biography
Alexandra Lee (B. Music Performance, University of Toronto) performs regularly as a chamber musician, recitalist, orchestral player, and contemporary music interpreter.
After holding the position of Principal Cellist with the Sudbury Symphony Orchestra for seven seasons, Alexandra has since resigned to pursue a career in chamber music. Her passion for the string quartet began with the Downtown Quartet, with whom she won the University of Toronto’s Felix Galimir Award for excellence in chamber music. Later in 2004, she co-founded the Silver Birch String Quartet, and the chamber music series Silver Birch Concerts, of which she is co-artistic director. With the SBSQ, she performs often, in her home city of Sudbury and across Canada and the USA. Her most recent accomplishments with the SBSQ include participating in the Chamber Music Seminars at Stanford University, by special invitation of the St. Lawrence Quartet, where she worked with such mentors as the SLSQ, Henk Guittart, Suren Bagratuni, and Tim Ying. In recording, the SBSQ’s collaborative CD with jazz pianist John Roney has gained acclaim and has been nominated for both a Félix and a JUNO award.
Alexandra’s interest in new music was piqued in the Contemporary Music Ensemble at the University of Toronto, under director Gary Kulesha. As her interest grew, she freelanced in concerts with Earshot, Soundstreams, NuMus and Continuum, and premiered several new works by young composers. Today, she is a frequent performer for 5-Penny New Music Concerts, and incorporates new music into much of her programming. Ms Lee has performed and premiered numerous contemporary works, including a cello concerto Unapproachable Light written for her by Nicholas Akers. Her premiere of a piano trio In the Dark… hommage à Lars Von Trier by Robert Lemay, for which she received partial dedication, was recorded and broadcast by Espace Musique of Radio-Canada. She continues to be an advocate for new compositions, especially new Canadian works. The importance of Canadian compositions resonates with her desire to further understand the complicated tapestry of Canadian culture.
As a soloist, Alexandra is experienced in solo cello, cello and piano, and as a soloist with orchestra. Some of her notable performances are: the Casalmaggiore International Festival in Italy, where she was a featured soloist in the festival’s gala concert; featured recitalist in Barrie’s Colours of Music with pianist Charlene Biggs; and a featured soloist with the Sudbury Symphony Orchestra, under conductor Victor Sawa. Some of her self-directed performances take her out of the concert hall and into unique performance venues; most recently, her recital in Vancouver BC at CocoaNymph chocolaterie.
In addition to a busy performance schedule, Alexandra is an active pedagogue, and has a healthy studio of cello students. She has started two cello ensemble for adult amateur cellists, and continues to innovate to create exciting learning opportunities for her studio. As a member of the SBSQ, Alexandra was a featured mentor in the North Bay Symphony’s String Retreat for adult amateur musicians (www.stringretreat.ca).
Alexandra performs exclusively on a 1996 cello by Hratch Armenious.