
okkyung lee
noise + others...
photo by lasse marhaug
Okkyung Lee (b. 1975)
cellist, composer and improviser
Selected Discography
Two Duos with Jérôme Noetinger and Nadia Ratsimandresy, (OtoRoku) 2022
Na-Reul solo cello (Corvett vs. Dempsey) 2021
Statistique Synthétique / Teum (the Silvery Slit) split album with Florian Hecker (GRM/Editions Mego), 2020
Yeo-Neun by yeo-neun quartet (Shelter Press), 2020
Libra Rising with Chris Corsano and Ches Smith (Bandcamp), 2018
The Air Around Her with Ellen Fullman (Editions Records), 2018
Speckled Stones and Green Dissonant Dots (Notice Recordings), 2018
Cheol-Kkot-Sae (Steel.Flower.Bird) (Tzadik), 2018
Dahl-Tah-Ghi (Pica Disk), 2018
Obelisk by Ikue Mori (Tzadik), 2017
Amalgam with Christian Marclay (Northern Spy), 2016
Which Way To Leave? by John Chantler (Room40), 2016
The Glowing Man by Swans (Young God Records), 2016
Live at Cafe Oto with Bill Orcutt (OtoRoku), 2016
A Pattern for Becoming by Mark Fell (Tapeworm), 2015
Apocalypse, Girl by Jenny Hval, (Sacred Bones), 2015
Live at Stone with Bill Nace and Chris Corsano (Open Mouth), 2015
Seven with Evan Parker, Ikue Mori, George Lewis, Ned Rothenberg, Peter Evans, Sam Pluta (Victo), 2015
Pub Crawl Part I & II written for members of London Sinfonietta (The Vinyl Factory), 2015
Piper with Jon Wesseltoft (Holidays) 2014
Skein with Frank Grakowsky, Achim Kaufmann, Wilbert De Joode, Tony Buck, Richard Barrett (Leo), 2014
Wake Up Awesome with C Spencer Yeh & Lasse Marhaug (Mexican Summer/Software) 2013
Holding It Down: The Veterans’ Dreams Project by Vijay Iyer and Mike Ladd (Pi) 2013
P.A./Hard Love by Marina Rosenfeld (Room40) 2013
Ghil (Editions Mego/Ideologic Organ) 2013
Look Right with Lisa Ullén and Nina de Heney (LJ Records) 2013
White Cable, Black Wires with John Edwards (FaKaTa) 2013
Almost Even Further with Urs Leimgruber, Jacques Demierre, Dorothea Schürch, Roger Turner and Thomas Lehn (Leo) 2012
Cold/Burn with Jon Wesseltoft, Anla Coultis and C Spencer Yeh (Feeding Tube) 2012
The Bleeding Edge with Evan Parker and Peter Evans (Psi) 2011
Noisy Love Songs (for George Dyer) (Tzadik) 2011
Anicca with Phil Minton (Dancing Wayang) 2011
Dictée/Liber Novus by John Zorn (Tzadik) 2010
Spiritual Dimensions by Wadada Leo Smith (Cuneiform) 2009
Femina by John Zorn (Tzadik) 2009
Check for Monsters with Steve Beresford and Peter Evans (Emanem) 2009
I saw the Ghost of an Unknown Soul and it Said... (Ecstatic Peace!) 2008
Still Life with Commentator by Vijay Iyer and Mike Ladd (Savoy Jazz) 2007
Rubbings with Christian Marclay (MCIAA/A Silent Place) 2006
Nihm (Tzadik) 2005
Selected Past Performances and Premiers
2 solo concerts at TUNE series, Haus Der Kunst, Munich, Germany, November 2022
Xenakis 100 by Atonal Festival, Kraftwerk, Berlin, Germany, November 2022
RHAMESJAFACOSEYJAFADRAYTON by Arthur Jafa with Jason Moran and Melvin Gibbs, ogr, Torino, Italy, November 2022
Silpuri and Improvisation at Sounds On Showcase, Mullae Art Factory, Seoul, Korea, September 2021
필드 기억 (Field Memory) with Kim Hee-Cheon, sound installation at NJP Art Center, Yong-In, Seoul, August-November 2021
Manghyang, written and arranged for Sofia Jernberg and String Ensemble, Wiener Festwochen and Monheim Triennale, June and July 2022
original score for Wings of Iron, new choreographed work by Donna Uchizono, Barishinikov Dance Center, New York, NY, May 2022
Sonorities Festival, Belfast, Ireland, April 2022
d/p I, II & III for Elevation/Circulation exhibition, audiovisual pieces, d/p, Seoul, Korea, December 20201
Improvisation with Song-Her Kwon and Jaehyo Chang, produced by Korean Traditional Music Radio, cote, Seoul, Korea, November 2021
Open Space: Focus on David Behrman, Serralve, Porto, Portugal, November 2021
traces (항상 떠나야만 하는 누군가를 위해... / for those who always have to leave...), audiovisual piece commissioned for Poesia en Voz Alta Festival, Mexico City, Mexico, October 2021
spacial performance at We'll Start a Fire exhibition by Marina Rosenfeld, Kunsthausbaselland, Basel, Switzerland, September 2021
맞닿은 하늘 / The Touching of Skies, Distant Pairs project with Louis Carnell, commissioned by Issue Project Room, Brooklyn, NY, USA, July 2021
÷ / + for Nam June Paik's birthday, NJP Art Center, Yong-In, Korea, July 2021
다시 또 봄... / spring time... yet again..., audiovisual piece commissioned for frameless 30, Munich, Germany, May 2021
틈/Teum (Silvery Slit) for cello and pre-recorded materials at Elevate Festival, Graz, Austria, March 2020
musical response to Haegue Yang's exhibition Handles at MOMA, New York, February 2020
Terry Riley Live at 85 Concert performing A Rainbow on Curved Air with Angel Deradoorian, Greg Fox, Justin Frye, Ben Greenberg, Yuka C. Honda, Pionner Works, Brooklyn, NY, USA, December 2019
Parallel Concert Series presented by Vancouver New Music, Vancouver, Roundhouse, Vancouver, Canada, November 2019
Love, You Son of a Bitch, by Letizia Renzini with music by Scarlatti and Giuseppe Ielasi, Staastoper, Berlin, Germany, October 2019
(once upon a time) we used to share this same light... for 5 musicians, sound spatialization and a performer commissioned by Time:Spans Festival, DiMenna Center, New York, NY, USA, August 2019
Five Ghosts and their Incurable Melancholia for cello and pre-recorded materials, commissioned by Musica Sanae, Naples, Italy, May 2019
Performance residency week at The Stone, New York, NY, USA, April 2019, October 2018, January 2018, October 2017, October 2016 and May 2014
Live response to Haegue Yang's Tracing Movement exhibition at South London Gallery, London, UK, March 2019
duo performance with Haroon Mirza, Asian Art Museum, San Francisco, CA, USA, April 2019
Three Day Residency at Cafe Oto with Matana Roberts, Jerome Noetinger, Nadia Ratsimandresy, Rashad Becker and Pat Thomas, London, UK, March 2019
틈/Teum (Silvery Slit) for cello and pre-recorded materials, commissioned by Sonic Acts and GRM through Reimagine Europe, Sonic Acts Festival, Amsterdam, The Netherlands, February 2019 & Festival Présences Életronique , Paris, France, March 2019
duo performance with Mark Fell, Issue Project Room, Brooklyn, NY, USA, March 2019
Huddersfiled Contemporary Music Festival, Huddersfield, United Kingdom, 2011, 2012 & 2018
Original Score to Portrait of Janus (Divided States) by Douglas Gordon at Void Gallery, Derry, UK, November 2018
grey shooting stars (for yun dong-ju) for cello and pre-recorded sound materials, BludenzerTage Zeitgemächer Mmusik, Bludenz, Austria, November 2018
November Music, Den Bosch, The Netherlands, Novembber 2018
Sarajevo Jazz Festival, Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Novembber 2018
New Music Circle Concerts Series, St. louis, MO, USA, September 2018 & February 2015
hutton sori for cello and computer generated sounds, der sommer in stuttgart festival, theaterhaus, stuttgart, germany, July 2018
spatial audio concert with markus noisternig and rama gottfried, EMPAC, troy, new york, July 2018
Prelude to The Shed concert with Arca, New York, NY, USA, May 2018
New Echoes Series with Christian Marclay and Luc Müller, Palazzo Grassi, Venice, Italy, April 2018
Time after Time, Space after Space, Concerto Speziale by Fondazione Furla with Christian Marclay and Luc Müller, Museo del Novecento, Milan, Italy, April 2018
Big Ears Festival, Knoxville, TN, USA, March 2018
CTM Festival, Berlin, Germany, January 2018
Museum Tinguely with Christian Marclay and Luc Müller, Basel, Switzerland, January 2018
UH Festival, Budapest, Hungary, October 2017
West Coast and Canada tour with Swans, August 2017
Calder: Hypermobility with Christian Marclay, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, NY, USA, July 2017
mostly miroh , written for ensemble Maze, Bimhuis, Amsterdam, June 2017
Performance residency at the French Pavilion by Xavier Veilhan, Venice Biennale, Venice, Italy, June 2017
Intonal Festival, Malmö, Sweden, May 2017
still hoping for a mirarcle...? for 4 musicians and audience, Borealis Festival, Bergen, Norway, March 2017
Geometry of Now Festival, Moscow, Russia, February 2017
Solo performance, Exploratorium, San Francisco, CA, USA, February 2017
MOFO MONA, Hobart, Australia, January 2017
Sydney Festival, Sydney, Australia, January 2017
Premiere of Cheol-Kkot-Sae (Steel.Flower.Bird) for 2 Korean traditional musicians and 5 improvisers, SWR2 commissioned piece for Donaueschinger Musiktage, Donaueschingen, Germany, October 2016
Premier of SoomNoRae written for musical robots, Wir Sind die Roboters, Musikbreurei, Berlin, Germany, September 2016
Tour with Bill Orcutt in Copenhagen, Brussels, Rotterdam, Paris, London and Glasgow, September 2016
Okkyung Lee Takes Over Jazz House 4-day festival, Copenhagen, Denmark, September 2016
USA and Canadian tour with Swans, July 2016
Parallelle Liv by Jonas Corell Petersen at Dramatikken hus, Oslo, Norway, June 2016
Il Ballo delle Ingrate by Letizia Renzini at Opera Dagen Festival, Rotterdam, The Netherlands, May 2016
Mary & Leigh Block Museum of Art at Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, May 2016
Closing concert for Cecil Taylor’s Open Plan exhibition at The Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, NY, USA, April 2016
Red Eclipse for 11 strings and 1 percussion, Roulette, Brooklyn, NY, USA, April 2016
#theshitoutofus with Michelle Boulé, The Met Breuer, New York, NY, USA, March 2016
Sonic Acts Festival, Amsterdam, The Netherlands, February 2012 & 2016
First Edition Festival, Fylkingen, Stockholm, Sweden, February 2016
Asian Meeting Festival, Tokyo, Kyoto, Kobe, Japan, February 2016
Wants & Desires with Andrew Lampert at The Drawing Center, New York, NY, USA, January 2016
Solo at EMAPC, Troy, NY, USA, January 2016
3-day residency at Jack Theater, Brooklyn, NY, USA, January 2016
Zoom Festival, Bern, Switzerland, November 2015
4-day Performance Residency at Cafe Oto, London, UK, October 2015
Monterey Jazz Festival, Moneterey, CA, USA, September 2015
Festival Météo, Mulhouse, France, August 2015
Scandinavia, Northern Europe and UK tour with Swans, May 2015
Pub Crawl Day I & II, Commission for London Sinfonietta for Christian Marclay’s Exhibit at White Cube Gallery, London, UK, March, 2015
Center for Contemporary Arts Singapore Bringing the Gap 2015, Singapore, March 2015
Off The Page Festival, Oslo, Norway, January 2015
All Ears Festival, Oslo, Norway, January 2015
Winter Interpretations School, Q-O2, Brussels, Belgium, 2014
Le Guess Who? Festival, Utrecht, The Netherlands, 2014
Contemporary Center for Arts, Kitakyushu, Japan, 2014
Skanu Mesz Festival, Riga, Latvia, 2014
Broken Sky at Real DMZ Project, Cherwon, South Korea, 2014
I of Eye, with Soomi Jang, LIG Art Center, Seoul, South Korea, 2014
RedBull Academy, New York, NY 2014
Performance Residency week at The Stone, New York, USA, 2014
MuseRuole Festival, Bolzano, Italy, 2014
Jazzfestivalen, Bergen, Norway, 2014
Borderline Festival, Athens, Greece, 2014
Premiere of Gori and Bahndahl at The Kitchen, New York, USA, 2014
Oslo Screen Festival, Oslo, Norway, 2014
Nuit d’Hiver Festival, Marseille, France, 2013
Next // Advanced Music Festival, Bratislava, Slovakia, 2013
Music Unlimited Festival, Wels, Austria, 2009, 2011, 2012 & 2013
Ten Years Alive On The Infinite Plain, Issue Project Room, Brooklyn, USA, 2013
Silence, Exile, Deceit by Douglas Gordon at Ruhrtriennale, Essen, Germany, 2013
The Swan: Replay in Polyester at Edinburgh International Festival, presented by Nam June Paik Art Center, Edinburgh, Scotland, 2013
Glatt und Verkehrt Festival, Krems, Austria, 2010 & 2013
Break>Urge>Imprint by Michelle Boulé and Okkyung Lee, Mount Tremper Arts, Mount Tremper, NY, USA, 2013
Tuned City Festival, Brusses, Belgium, 2013
Norwegian Short Film Festival, Grimstadt, Norway, 2013
Schaffhauser Jazz Festival, Shaffhausen, Switzerland, 2013
Doek Festival, Amsterdam, The Nethelands, 2013
Ear We Are Festival, Biel, Switzerland, 2013
Rotterdam Film Festival, Rotterdam, The Netherlands, 2012 & 2013
Corruptive Climate Festival, Berlin, Germany, 2012
Lampo, Chicago, USA, 2012
Hagenfesten, Dala-Floda, Sweden, 2012
A L’arme Festival, Berlin, Germany, 2012
Bergen International Festival, Bergen, Norway, 2012
Nye Perspectives Festival, Västerås, Sweden, 2012
Maerzmusik Festival, Berlin, Germany, 2012
Sonic Acts Festival, Amsterdam, The Netherlands, 2012
Sons d’Hiver Festival, Paris, France, 2012
All Ears Festival, Oslo, Norway, 2010 & 2012
Merce Cunningham Dance Company Final Performances, Park Avenue Armory, New York, NY, USA, 2011
Hello, I Need You, choreographed by Michelle Boulé with original music by Okkyung Lee, The Kitchen, New York, NY, USA, 2011
Long White Shadows with Michelle Boulé, Issue Project Room, Brooklyn, NY, USA, 2011
Jazz em Agosto, Lisbon, Portugal, 2011
Eternal Turning, Nam-June Paik Center, Yong-In, Korea, 2011
Taktlos Festival, Zürich & Basel, Switzerland, 2004 & 2011
Densités à l’œuvre Festival, Fresnes-en-Wöevre, France, 2010
Melos-Étos Contemporary Music Festival, Bratislava, Solvakia, 2009
Kisaeng Becomes You, choreographed by Dean Moss & Yoon-Jin Kim, original music by Okkyung Lee, Dance Theater Workshop (currently New York Live Arts), New York, NY, USA, 2009
European and North American Tour with Laurie Anderson, 2008 & 2009
All Frontiers Festival, Gradisca d'Isonzo, Italy, 2008
Then, There, That Corner (commission by New York Cultural Council), Roulette, New York, NY, USA, 2007
Untitled (White Night), The Kitchen, New York, NY, USA, 2007
Whitney Biennial: Day for Night, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, NY, USA, 2006
Performa ’05, Eyebeam Gallery, New York, NY, USA, 2005
International Festival Musique Actuelle Victoriaville, Victoriaville, Canada, 2005
Time Based Art Festival, Portland, OR, USA, 2003
La Biennale di Venezia, Venice, Italy, 2003
Selected Awards, Grants and Residencies
Résidence d'Artiste, La Becque, Switzerland, 2023
Akademie Schloss Solitude Residency, Stuttgart, Germany, 2017
Harvestworks Artist in Residency, New York, NY, USA, 2016
Doris Duke Performing Artist Award, New York, NY, USA, 2015
Civitella Ranieri Fellowship, Umbria, Italy, 2015
Q-O2 Artist in Residency, Brussels, Belgium, 2014
Artist In Residence Krems, Krems An Der Donau, Austria, 2010
Foundation for Contemporary Arts Music/Sound Grant, 2010
New York State Council on the Arts, Composer Commissions Grant, 2007
Teaching
Visiting Professor, hfg Karlsruhe, Germany, 2020-2021
Visiting Artist at Mills College, Oakland, CA, USA 2019
Faculty at Banff Jazz and Creative Music Center, Banff, Canada, 2012, 2017 & 2018
Visiting Artist/Faculty at Bard College MFA Program, Annandale-on-Hudson, NY, USA 2017 & 2018
Workshop on Improvisation, Mannes College New School of Music, New York, NY, USA, 2015
Workshop on Improvisation, Festival Météo, Mulhouse, France, 2015
Original Soundtrack
Last Things by Deborah Stratman, premiered at Sundance Film Festival, 2023
In the Beginning, Woman was the Sun by Sylvia Schedelbauer, 2022
38 by Micaela Durand and Daniel Chew, premiered at New York Film Festival, September 2021
Education
M.M. in Contemporary Improvisation, New England Conservatory of Music, 2000
B.M. in Film Scoring & Contemporary Music Writing and Production, Berklee College of Music, 1998