Haena Lee | sfacademyorchestra

Haena Lee, age 24, is an all-rounder Canadian musician currently with the San Francisco Academy Orchestra for her Artist Diploma under Amos Yang. Lee was born in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, and started playing the cello in South Korea by age nine, where soon after her family moved to Edmonton, Alberta.

In Edmonton, she won various scholarships and awards as a soloist, including the Alberta College Fall Music Festival Scholarship from Alberta College Conservatory of Music in 2009 and the Alberta College Scholarship from the A.C Scholarship Competition in 2010. That same year, she placed 1st at the Edmonton Kiwanis Festival, and with the special recommendation of Michael Massey, conductor of the Edmonton Youth Orchestra, Lee performed as a soloist with the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra in 2012.

To further her music career, Lee relocated to Calgary, Alberta in 2012 where she was accepted to the Academy Program for Gifted Youth at Mount Royal University and was selected for the Advanced Performance Program in 2015. During her time in the Academy program, she showcased her skills at many concerts and participated as a soloist in masterclasses with numerous world-class guest artists including Frans Helmerson, Colin Carr, Lynn Harell, and more. Acknowledged for her musical mastery, Lee won numerous awards and scholarships at the Calgary Kiwanis Festival and performed at the Canadian Music Competition for four consecutive years as a national finalist to win the prestigious Canimex Scholarship in 2013, place 3rd in 2014 and 2015, and place 2nd in 2016. Furthermore, she placed Honourable Mention in the 2015 Frank Simpson Concerto Competition and had the special opportunity to perform the 1st mvt of Lalo Concerto in D minor with the Calgary Youth Orchestra.

Lee obtained her Bachelor of Music Performance at the Manhattan School of Music in 2021, where she continued to participate in performances and masterclasses. She graduated with her Master of Music Performance at McGill’s Schulich School of Music in 2023.

As an avid collaborator, Lee has been part of many chamber ensembles from duos and trios, to quartets, quintets, and sextets, not to mention taking on many leadership roles as the principal cellist for Edmonton Junior String Ensemble and Edmonton Intermediate Youth Orchestra, receiving the Diana Bacon Young Musicians Award in recognition for all of her leadership accomplishments. From there, Lee continued to take on more leadership positions as Principal Cellist in the Calgary Youth Orchestra in 2013 and more recently as principal in the National Academy Orchestra of Canada in 2022 and Orchestra de la Francophonie in 2023.

Constantly aspiring to further her cello performance, Lee has always taken part in summer opportunities including the Summer Music Retreat by Alberta College Conservatory of Music for two consecutive years starting in 2008 and the Valhalla Summer School of Music in 2012. In 2015, Lee participated in the Morningside Music Bridge Program, as well as the Orford Academy of Music and Meadowmount School of Music in 2016 and 2019 respectively. More recently in the summer of 2020, Lee was a part of Heifetz virtually.