Sydney Lee, a master’s cello student of Hans Jørgen Jensen at the Bienen School of Music, has won first prize in the 2022 Washington International Competition for Strings. Lee receives a $10,000 cash prize; a one-year loan of a cello valued at up to $500,000, courtesy of Christophe Landon Rare Violins; and an invitation to present a solo concert and master class at the Tennessee Cello Workshop in January 2023.

Established in 1950, the Washington International Competition awards prizes to singers, pianists, and string players (violin, viola, and cello) on an annual rotation. A competition for composers is held every three years. The string competition finals took place at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, DC.

Lee also recently won second prize and €30.000 in the 2022 Classic Strings International Cello Competition. As a member of the Bienen School’s Galvin Cello Quartet, she was named a winner of the Concert Artists Guild’s 2022 Victor Elmaleh Competition and will receive international management with Concert Artists Guild and a New York debut performance.

About Sydney Lee

Sydney Lee made her debut with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra at age 13 under the baton of Maestro Thomas Hong. Since then, she has captured first prizes in the 10th International Cello Competition “Antonio Janigro,” Bravura Philharmonic Young Artists Concerto Competition, Duquesne Young Artist National Competition, Juilliard Pre-College Concerto Competition, Monmouth Symphony Orchestra Concerto Competition, and second prize at the Lennox International Young Artists Competition. She was also a finalist at the Stulberg International String Competition and the Philadelphia Orchestra’s Albert M. Greenfield Competition.

Lee has performed in many cities across Asia, United States, and Europe in venues such as Verizon Hall in Kimmel Center, Palladium Center for the Performing Arts, Heinz Hall, Carnegie Hall's Stern Auditorium, Euphrasian Basilica, Shanghai Concert Hall, and Konzerthaus Berlin. A National YoungArts finalist, Lee was named a 2015 US Presidential Scholar in the Arts by the White House Commission on Presidential Scholars. She was also the recipient of the 2015 Korean Honors Scholarship, which was awarded by the South Korean Embassy in Washington D.C.

Lee received a bachelor’s degree from the Curtis Institute of Music. She will complete her master’s degree at the Bienen School of Music this spring and continue her doctoral studies with Professor Jensen this fall.

Photo by Todd Rosenberg