Okkyung Lee

Okkyung Lee is a cellist, composer, and improviser. Since 2000 she has worked as a solo artist and in collaboration with a wide range of creators.

A native of South Korea, Okkyung has taken a broad array of inspirations – including noise, improvisation, jazz, western classical, and her homeland’s traditional and popular music – and used them to forge a highly distinctive approach. Although Okkyung is known best for her improvisational work utilising visceral extended techniques on her instrument, she has been creating various types of compositions and site-specific works responding to architecture, audience, or objects surrounding her, producing an immersive experience that also challenges the built-in hierarchy in traditional concert settings. 

In 2010, Okkyung received the Foundation for Contemporary Arts Grant and a Doris Duke Performing Artist Award in 2015. She holds a dual bachelor’s degree in Contemporary Writing & Production and Film Scoring from Berklee College of Music and a Master in Contemporary Improvisation from New England Conservatory of Music. She has performed in Museum of Modern Art as well as Whitney Museums of American Art in New York, Museo del Novecento in Milan, and Serpentine Galleries as well as White Cube Galleries in London, and many others. She has appeared on more than 30 albums, and been commissioned to compose music and assemble projects, including Explore Ensemble in London, Time Spans Festival in New York, Sonic Acts Festival in Amsterdam, and for Borealis in 2017.