Earl Lee to Toronto Symphony

Bravo to Earl Lee ’15 G.D., who is in his final year of the Orchestral Conducting Program directed by Hugh Wolff.  Earl has just won the position of RBC Resident Conductor of the Toronto Symphony. The appointment will serve as a happy homecoming for the conductor who was born in Korea but raised in Toronto where he was a member of the Toronto Symphony Youth Orchestra cello section. Earl was chosen from five finalists who auditioned with the TSO in rehearsal. Following each audition, the members of the orchestra voted and these ballots, in combination with selection committee interviews, resulted in Earl’s selection. TSO Music Director Peter Oundjian made the announcement December 4.

"I have had the pleasure of watching Earl develop as a musician over the past decade," said Oundjian. "As an accomplished cellist, he performed with great sensitivity and brilliant artistry.  He brings these same instincts to his conducting. He has been expertly taught by Hugh Wolff , and I, along with the musicians of the TSO, am thrilled to be a part of the development of Earl's considerable talent."

The RBC Resident Conductor position is part of the larger RBC Emerging Artists Project funded by the RBC Wealth Management and RBC Insurance companies.  It is designed to help develop the next generation of Canadian artists. As the TSO's RBC Resident Conductor, Earl will work closely with Oundjian and the artistic staff of the TSO, enjoying complete access to all TSO rehearsals and performances, and consulting and coaching with TSO guest conductors. He will jump right into his conducting duties, taking the TSO podium, January 27—30, when he makes his debut leading the 2015 Student Concert programs. In addition, he will share the podium with Oundjian on the TSO Young People's Concert, Saturday, February 7, 2015. And he will also lead the June 13 and 14 Light Classics series Pan American Rhythms concert.

A graduate of the Curtis Institute of Music and the Juilliard School with degrees in cello performance, Earl began his conducting studies in 2010 with Ignat Solzhenitsyn. He went on to study with George Manahan at the Manhattan School of Music.  He also received the 2013 Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy Scholarship to study with Kurt Masur in Leipzig , and was awarded a 2013 Ansbacher Fellowship for Young Conductors by the American Austrian Foundation.

Earl can be heard conducting the NEC Lab Orchestra, December 11, when he will conduct movements from Beethoven’s Symphonies No. 5 and 6.