Winner of the prestigious 2024 Avery Fisher Career Grant, Korean-American violinist Julian Rhee has enthralled listeners internationally, praised for his refinement and beauty of sound, and "the kind of poise and showmanship that thrills audiences." (The Strad ) His passion for all forms of collaboration has taken him around the world, producing a thoroughly sensitive and informed artist. 

 

Rhee came to international prominence following his prize winning performances at the 2024 Queen Elisabeth International Violin Competition and Silver Medal finish at The 11th Quadrennial International Violin Competition of Indianapolis. Also the first prize winner of the 2020 Elmar Oliveira International Competition and Astral Artists’ National Auditions, Rhee is the recipient of numerous awards such as the Aspen Festival's Dorothy DeLay Fellowship, Arkady Fomin Scholarship Fund, Theodore Presser Scholar Award, The Foote Award, and the Manfred Grommek Prize from the Kronberg Academy. He is a Young Strings of America Ambassador sponsored by SHAR Music.

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Since his Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra debut at age 8, Rhee has gone on to perform with orchestras all across the world, such as the Belgian National Orchestra, Indianapolis Symphony, Antwerp Symphony, Santa Rosa Symphony, Pittsburgh Symphony, Aspen Philharmonic, East Coast Chamber, Eugene Symphony, Brevard Symphony, Fresno Philharmonic, Madison Symphony, and San Diego Symphony, and with acclaimed conductors such as Francesco Lecce-Chong, Nicolas McGegan, Rune Bergmann, Valentina Peleggi, Hugh Wolff, Antony Hermus, and Leonard Slatkin, among others. He has performed in an array of venues including Staatsoper Hamburg, Kronberg Academy's Casals Forum, Ravinia’s Bennett Gordon Hall, Center for Fine Arts in Brussels, Heinz Hall, the Overture Center for the Arts, Teatro El Círculo in Rosario, Argentina, The Musikverein in Vienna, Bartok Hall in Hungary, New World Center, and the John F Kennedy Center as a US Presidential Scholar, receiving his medal at the White House. Recent and upcoming engagements include appearances with the Calgary Philharmonic, Madison Symphony, Richmond Symphony, Orchestra Royal de Chamber de Wallonie, Württemberg Chamber Orchestra of Heilbronn, and Indianapolis Chamber Orchestras, European Orchestra Academy with Ivan Fischer, as well as a production of Lera Auerbach's complete 24 Preludes for Violin and Piano with the Hamburg Ballet and John Neuemeier. 

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Equally invested in chamber music and collaboration, Rhee is the newest member of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center CMS’s Bowers Program. Rhee has also performed at and attended festivals including the Ravinia Steans Institute, Marlboro Festival, Rockport Music, and North Shore Chamber Music Festivals, performing alongside esteemed musicians such as Vadim Gluzman, Jonathan Biss, Mitsuko Uchida, Kim Kashkashian, and Peter Wiley. He has appeared alongside Time For Three on NPR's From the Top, Jupiter Chamber Players, Dame Myra Hess Memorial Concerts, WQXR's Young Artists Showcase, Milwaukee Public Television, and Wisconsin Public Radio and Television.

 

Rhee studied with Hye-Sun Lee and Almita Vamos at the Music Institute of Chicago Academy and received his bachelor’s degree and master’s degree as teaching assistant of Miriam Fried at the New England Conservatory. He currently studies with Christian Tetzlaff at the Kronberg Academy. 

 

Rhee is the recipient of the outstanding 1699 "Lady Tennant" Antonio Stradivari violin and Jean Pierre Marie Persoit bow on extended loan through the generosity of the Mary B. Galvin Foundation and the efforts of the Stradivari Society, a division of Bein & Fushi, Inc. The Mary B. Galvin Foundation, Inc. and the Stradivari Society support the very highest level of string playing by loaning precious antique Italian instruments to artists of exceptional talent and ability.