Jon Lee

Biography

Known for his dynamic and expressive playing, pianist Jon Lee has built an international reputation through his commanding presence as a soloist and competition prizewinner. A first-prize laureate at the Cliburn International Amateur Piano Competition and the San Diego International Piano Competition, he has also earned top honors at the Washington International Piano Artists Competition. His concerto and recital appearances have taken him to Symphony Hall in Boston, Bass Hall in Fort Worth, Salle Cortot in Paris, Jack Singer Hall in Calgary, Abravanel Hall in Salt Lake City, Benaroya Hall in Seattle, and the Shalin Liu Performance Center in Rockport, with orchestral collaborations including the Fort Worth Symphony, Boston Pops Orchestra, and Utah Symphony.

Chamber music stands equally at the heart of Jon’s artistry. As a founding member of the Ethea Trio, he has performed across the Bay Area at Noontime Concerts, the UCSF Chancellor’s Concert Series, and Groupmuse. He is a frequent collaborator with leading artists including Kim Kashkashian, Clive Greensmith, the Telegraph Quartet, Jonathan Vinocour, Stella Chen, and Nicholas Phan. He is finishing his Artist Diploma in Chamber Music at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, studying with Yoshikazu Nagai.

Recent festival appearances include PianoTexas, Sicily International Piano Festival, AIM Paris, and Vivace! International Music Festival. Throughout his career he has worked with distinguished artists such as Jerome Lowenthal, Boris Slutsky, Leon Fleisher, and Russell Sherman.

Beyond performance, Jon is dedicated to shaping the future of classical music through innovation and collaboration. He created the website jazzpianists.org, commissioned contemporary works modeled on Beethoven’s Op. 126 Bagatelles, and developed MusicPodium, an iPad app that streamlines digital score reading. His passion for supporting artists also extends to arts leadership, where he serves as a director for the Hawaiʻi Chamber Music Festival and is a founder of SF Chamber Sessions, which brings chamber music to street-level audiences in San Francisco. Originally from Wisconsin and raised in Utah, Jon is a graduate of MIT in Computer Science and a former engineering manager at Apple.

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