Canadian-American violinist Christel Lee won first prize at the International Jean Sibelius Violin Competition in Helsinki in 2015, becoming the first North American winner in the competition's fifty-year history. In December of that year, she was invited to perform with the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by principal conductor John Storgårds, on a tour to Birmingham and Dublin celebrating the 150th anniversary of Jean Sibelius' birth. Her success in Helsinki was preceded by numerous awards, including second prize and the audience prize at the 2013 International ARD Competition in Munich. Her performances have been highly praised by critics for their intensity, technical precision and emotional depth. As a soloist, Christel Lee has performed with renowned orchestras such as the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Korean Symphony, the KBS Symphony Orchestra, the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra, the Tokyo Philharmonic and the SWR Symphony Orchestra Stuttgart. In addition to her solo career, she is a passionate chamber musician and regularly collaborates with leading artists of her generation. She is regularly invited to festivals in Europe, Asia and North America. Christel Lee, whose family has Korean roots, was born in Bloomington and began playing the violin at the age of five in Vancouver, Canada. She has been professor of violin at the Karlsruhe University of Music since 2024. 

https://christellee.com/