Okkyung Lee (b. 1975)
cellist, composer and improviser
Selected Discography
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 (premiers in bold)
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 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
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
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
Artist in Residence 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
Curatorial
Take Over at Jazz House, Copenhagen, Denmark, September 2016
Music Unlimited Festival, Wels, Austria, November 2013
The Stone, New York, NY, USA, July 2005
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