MUSIC
Jasper Lee started playing the marimba at age 5 and transitioned to cello at age 9; he has been under the tutelage of Jonathan Koh since October of 2022, having studied with Vicky Wang four years prior. As a winner of the International Hill Concerto Competition, he has soloed with the Manhattan Symphony at Merkin Hall in New York City and was named a National YoungArts Winner in 2023 & 2024. He has received first prizes in the CalASTA San Francisco Branch, the state round of the Opus International Competition, CAPMT’s Concerto Competition Category, MTAC’s VOCE State Competition, International Great Composers Series and USIMC, along with awards in the Houston International Competition, California American String Teachers Association, ENKOR International Competition, KAMSA Young Artist Competition, and the Junior Bach Festival.
As a member of Young Chamber Musicians, Jasper is the cellist of Trio D’Neo (the first ensemble in the program to play a commissioned work) and the cellist of Pueri Quartet, an ensemble that placed as alternate for the National Fischoff Competition and raised over $5k for Turkey and Syria Earthquake victims; both ensembles have been invited to perform at Kohl Mansion, the Rossmoor Chamber Music Society, and the Channing House Senior Center. Additionally, he is a Co-Principal Cellist of the San Francisco Youth Symphony Orchestra and was selected to perform Borodin’s String Quartet No. 2 with San Francisco Symphony Orchestra musicians at Davies Symphony Hall and Marine Corps League Foundation.
Invited to perform in MTAC’s Convention masterclasses as a Panel Honor Awardee in 2021 & 2022, he has attended Music@Menlo Chamber Music Institute, Vivace Music Festival, CelloBello Workshop, Hidden Valley Music Seminars, C'est Bon Chamber Music Academy and will be a Morningside Music Bridge participant this summer. He has had the honor of playing for Laurence Lesser, Paul Katz, Inbal Segev, Steven Doane, David Finckel, Darett Adkins, Natasha Brofsky, and Astrid Schween.
Aside from music, Jasper is the Co-President of SoundPost Youth Foundation (a volunteering organization that raised $9.5k for Russo-Ukrainian War victims) and a Regional Director of BackToBach’s Santa Clara Branch (reaching out to schools and orphanages in the Bay Area, Malaysia, and Philippines) as well as organizer of his school’s first fundraising concert dedicated to mishandled instruments.
ACADEMICS / INTERESTS
As one particularly fascinated by computer science, physics, and mathematics, Jasper has explored avenues to ameliorate cello playing obstacles. He has developed his own algorithm to optimize cello fingerings to aid beginners with the time consuming process of finding the most efficient set of fingerings. With this algorithm, he wrote a research paper accepted for publication documenting the breakthroughs, intricacies, and novelty of fingering optimization on stringed instruments, as there is a paucity of such exploration on this front. Furthermore, he created a bow-tracking web app that visually illustrates bow-arm movement to tackle arm tension, utilizing html, css and a machine learning model he trained. Similarly, he invented a music-responsive cello fingerboard that lights up to assist with untimely finger coordination, intonation and left-hand posture along with filing for a provisional utility patent for this invention.
During his free time, he enjoys going for morning runs, evening swims, folding origami, and rearranging the landscape of his freshwater aquarium. Having joined the school varsity tennis team as one of two freshmen, he continues to play in adult amateur leagues, and immerses himself in all kinds of sports with friends.
