Violist Haesue Lee is the first Korean first-prize winner of the 2018 Primrose International Viola Competition. She has won top prizes at several competitions including the first prize at the 2015 Johansen International Competition and the Philadelphia Orchestra’s 2014 Albert M. Greenfield Competition, and has been a prizewinner at the Stulberg and Lionel Tertis International competitions. As part of the prize package she received at the Greenfield Competition, she was invited to perform with the Philadelphia Orchestra at the Kimmel Center. She has also been invited to perform at the Korean Presidential “Blue House” and the Emirates International Peace Music Festival for Young Virtuosos. Haesue has performed as soloist with the Prince George’s Philharmonic Orchestra, Ensemble 212, and recently performed Strauss’s Don Quixote as soloist with the Curtis Symphony Orchestra. She has also given solo recitals as part of the Kumho Prodigy series (Seoul) and as a Rising Star of the Korean Culture Center in Paris. As a chamber musician, Haesue has participated in the Steans Institute of the Ravinia Festival, the Banff Music Festival, and the Great Mountains Music Festival, and has shared the stage with such distinguished artists as Miriam Fried, Lynn Harrell, Gary Hoffman, and Peter Wiley. At the age of nine, Haesue entered the Juilliard Pre-College Program with Toby Appel as her mentor. She graduated from The Curtis Institute of Music where she studied with Hsin-Yun Huang and Roberto Diaz.