Irene Lee, cello (Irvine, CA), studies with Natasha Brofsky at The Juilliard School and previously studied with Jean-Michel Fonteneau in the San Francisco Conservatory of Music pre-college division. Her additional musical influences include Johannes Moser, Jean-Guihen Queyras, Ludwig Quandt, Mark Kosower, Bonnie Hampton, Hans Jensen, Anne Williams, and Dennis Karmazyn. Aside from solo endeavors, including an Honorable Mention from the National YoungArts Competition, being named the OC Register’s Varsity Artist of the Year, and concerto appearances with numerous orchestras, she was a member of NYO-USA in 2021 and 2022, the first freshman principal cellist in the history of the California All-State High School Symphony, and the youngest participant in the All-National Honors Symphony. Also an avid chamber musician, she was part of a piano trio which received silver medal and the Beethoven Prize at the Pasadena Conservatory National Chamber Music Competition, and was coached by the Telegraph Quartet. Irene plays on a 1783 Renault & Chatelain cello and a commissioned Pierre-Yves Fuchs bow. She is a rising junior majoring in economics and political science in the Columbia-Juilliard exchange.