ABOUT SHARON

Aptly pegged “a compact fireball” (La Scena Musicale), Sharon Lee gave her violin concerto debut at the age of ten. Sharon is recipient of the Ontario Arts Council's Orford String Quartet Award, a 2024 Professional Development grant from the Canada Council for the Arts, and a 2024 Skills and Career Development: Indigenous Arts Professionals and Arts Professionals of Colour grant from the Ontario Arts Council. 

 

Sharon has served as Concertmaster and Contractor of the Toronto Concert Orchestra under Maestro Kerry Stratton since 2014, and was named the Toronto Concert Orchestra's Artistic Director in 2024, after having served as Co-Artistic Director since 2020. Sharon is Artistic Director of the Toronto Chamber Players, and serves as Music Director of the Korean Canadian Symphony Orchestra, as well as curator for the Korean Canadian Chamber Concerts. 

 

Sharon’s first parlay into orchestral music was the various excellent youth orchestras available in Toronto, and an experience with the New York String Orchestra confirmed that orchestral music could be a life passion. At age 26, Sharon was appointed Principal Second Violin of the Thunder Bay Symphony. Prior to her work as an orchestral musician, Sharon was a fully devoted chamber musician as a founding member of the Cecilia Quartet, which saw her perform across the globe, enjoying fellowships at Schleswig-Holstein Meisterkurse, the Aspen Music Festival, and an official selection to the Melbourne International Chamber Music Competition.

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Devoted to music of our time, Sharon takes immense pleasure in backing up legends like Earth Wind and Fire, Barbra Streisand, Michael Bublé, and Ed Sheeran; working with cutting-edge contemporary ensembles including Toy Piano Composers, CONTACT, Continuum, and Tapestry; and playing original Prog Rock tunes with Dévah Quartet, with whom Sharon is a YAMAHA Canada Artist and D'Addario Canada Artist. Sharon has performed in the world premiere of roughly 200 new works. 

 

Sharon’s cumulative educational efforts include providing private lessons at University of Toronto Schools, violin facilitator at Axis Music, working with the Toronto District School Board/Continuum New Music project (promoting new music and performing new creations by TDSB students), and countless educational workshops with Dévah Quartet including appearances as clinician at Ontario String Association, and Ontario Music Educator’s Conference. Sharon has adjudicated for multiple Kiwanis and other music festivals, and developed the blueprint for Axis Music's Music Creation Workshops, which have been implemented in select TDSB schools and Toronto Public Libraries. 

 

Invited to join the studio of the late Professor Lorand Fenyves at age 16, Sharon performed at the Lorand Fenyves Memorial Concert as his final pupil.