Owen Lee - Double Bass

Described as "a true virtuoso" by legendary pianist Gary Graffman and praised by the New York Times for his "deft and virtuosic solo performance" at his New York debut at Alice Tully Hall, double bassist Owen Lee has earned acclaim as a soloist, chamber musician and since 1996, at the age of 26, as Principal Bass of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra.

Mr. Lee is heard regularly as a soloist with orchestras including the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Paavo Jarvi, Jesus Lopez-Cobos and Olari Elts, the Scottish Chamber Orchestra under John Harbison, and the New World Symphony under Michael Tilson-Thomas in Miami and on tour to New York's Lincoln Center. During the 2006-07 season, Mr. Lee and the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, along with a consortium of other soloists and orchestras, presented the world premier performances of John Harbison's Double Bass Concerto.

Mr. Lee's prizes in competitions include First Prize at the 1995 International Society of Bassists Competition and Fourth Prize at the 1992 Irving M. Klein International String Competition in San Francisco.

For the Boston Records label, he recorded the Misek Sonata No. 2 and Bach Unaccompanied Suites No. 3 and No. 5, earning praise from such publications as American Record Guide and The Strad.

Mr. Lee's extensive international chamber music experience includes three summers as the bassist of the Marlboro Festival. While there, he performed extensively with such artists as Richard Stoltzman, Midori, Nobuko Imai, Bruno Canino, Pierre-Laurent Aimard, and members of the Beaux Arts Trio, Guarneri Quartet and Juilliard Quartet.

Mr. Lee has also performed with the Tokyo String Quartet on tour to Mexico, the Miro Quartet, the Rossetti String Quartet, John Browning, Anne-Marie McDermott, Jaime Laredo, Ida Kavafian, Eugenia Zukerman, and the Bravo! Vail Valley Music Festival.

Owen is married to CiCi Lee. He enjoys travel, bicycling, snowboarding, cigars, auto repair and playing drums and writing songs with his rock band Toe www.myspace.com/toerocks.