SunHee Lee (Sunny Lee) is a clarinetist whose pastoral, bucolic sound soothes and warms the hearts of the audience. Lee received her B.A. in Music (minor in Piano) and M.A. from Sookmyung Women’s University in South Korea, and then went abroad to earn her M.A in Music from Western Michigan University (WMU) in the USA, followed by her Doctor of Music Art (Music Performance) from Michigan State University (MSU).
During her years as a university student in Korea, Lee won 1st prize in Korea Brahms competition (Undergraduate Level). At Western Michigan University, she received a scholarship for woodwind instrumentalist given by the Western Michigan University Music School of Alumni Association. Lee also got a full scholarship ride at both Western University and Michigan State University. In addition, she was a member of Pi Kappa Lambda of the National Music Society for her top-notch talents and skills.
Lee played with Czech Janacek Chamber Orchestra (KEPCO Art Center, South Korea), performed at WMU as the best student musicale, and she was also invited by MSU School of Music to perform at the Clarinet Festival. Other lists of Lee’s performances include the one with the US Female Composers, WMU Symphonic Band (Miller Hall), Awardees’ Concert of the Music Education News (Youngsan Art Hall).
From 2015, Lee continued to play at various concerts, including her solo concert at Kumho Art Hall and New Year’s concert with Seoul Orchestra. In 2016, she then went on to perform with Euro Sinfonietta Wien (Novomatic Forum, Vienna), Nurnberg Symphony Orchestra for Mozart CD recordings in May, North Czech Philharmonic Orchestra for live recorded concert in July (Smetana Hall, Prague). In addition, Lee actively played with several ensembles and solo recital in South Korea.
Clarinetist Sunny Lee was a teaching assistant at Sookmyung Women’s University and WMU, as well as an instructor at Plainwell Middle School, CMS of MSU, and United Academy. Furthermore, Lee was also an Honorary First Chair in numerous national and international orchestras, showing her exception competence in, not only performance but also in music administration and education.
Lee also have a list of publications, including A Study on Paul Hindemith’s sonata for Clarinet and Piano (1939) (Master’s dissertation, Sookmyung Women’s University, 2008) and John Corigliano’s concerto for Clarinet and Orchestra: an Analysis and a Performance Perspective (Focus on Clarinet and Piano Version by G. Schirmer, Inc in 1993; Doctor’s document, UMS, 2014).
Lee was taught by a number of renown performers ranging from Nakku Kim, Heejeong Lucia Kye, to Justin O’Dell, Elsa Ludewig-Verdehr, and Bradley Wong.
From 2016 to 2017, she was selected as a “Rising Artist” at Chungnam Arts and Culture Foundation.
She also release an classic album from Sony Music on Jan 2017 Mozart & Rietz clarinet concerto.
Currently, Lee is teaching at KiJeon University working as anclarinet adjunct professor at the Department of Music and Music History within U1 University.
