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

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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