Christopher Collins Lee Biography

 

 

Christopher Collins Lee, violinist, became a protegè of Zino  Francescatti at the age of sixteen, traveling with him throughout Europe on his final tours. Chris studied violin and composition at Curtis and Juilliard, earned a Doctorate degree, was a Fulbright Scholar, and has been awarded four Honorary Doctorate degrees. His principal teachers were Dorothy DeLay, Joseph Fuchs, Henryk Szeryng and Nathan Milstein. 

 

Mr. Lee has received many honors including Prizes in the Carl Flesch International Violin Competition, the Tibor Varga International  Competition, and the J.S. Bach International Competition, The Lion D'or of the French government, a Guggenheim Grant, The Belgian American Award, and the Fritz Kreisler Prize. As an Official Musical Ambassador of the U.S. Department of State for  two decades, he has played thousands of concerts under their

auspices worldwide, forty solo tours to the Far East alone. One of his recordings was chosen to represent human culture on the Voyager Time Capsule, launched into space in 1977, just now leaving our solar system.

Christopher has received critical acclaim for his recitals and chamber music collaborations. Ian Hodgson wrote in Strad Magazine, "He is a communicator. He draws each listener into the world of each composer, and distills a kind of musical essence." The New York Times termed Christopher Lee "an impressive, stylish violinist with something special to say." The Daily News, "His playing was a joy as always." The Tass News Agency praised him for an "expressive big technique, with musical insights to match . . . placing him in the front rank of today's top violinists." Musical America listed him on their annual "Ten Musicians to Watch," and Nathan Milstein once said, "Christopher Lee has the most beautiful violin sound of his generation."

Christopher has performed as violin soloist with Leopold Stokowski, Leonard Bernstein, Sergiu Commissiona, Lucas Foss, and Arthur Fiedler conducting. Works which have been premiered by him, some of them also in their first recordings, include Aaron Copland's "Ballades for Violin and Piano" with Leonard Bernstein playing the piano, Variations from the opera, "Daphne" by Richard Strauss, Darius Milhaud's "Second Sonata," "Final Alice" by David del Tredici, and the "Concerto" by Xavier Montsalvadge at an internationally televised gala attended by the octogenarian composer and the King of Spain, still frequently rerun in Latin American countries.

Christopher has recorded for CBS, Angel, Desto, Everest, Delos, Arista and the Quattro Corde labels. His lecture recitals devoted to Mozart's Life and times are continuously in great demand, using his 1680 Cremonese violin made by Francesco Ruggieri, which once belonged to Leopold Mozart.