About the artist

A native of Fremont, California, Alison Lee is a pianist based in the San Francisco Bay Area.  She is the first prize winner of several competitions such as Thursday Musical’s Scholarship Competition and the Dorothy Van Waynen Piano Competition.  She also received second prize at the Midwest International Piano Competition, where she performed Beethoven’s Emperor Concerto with conductor Jason Weinberger and the Waterloo-Cedar Falls Symphony.  Most recently, Alison was featured as a soloist with the Coeur d’Alene Symphony Orchestra after winning their 2019 National Young Artists Competition.

In addition to performing as a soloist, Alison enjoys playing chamber music and is the pianist of Ensemble 1828, a touring piano trio that presents several programs each year. She frequently performs with her sister, pianist Katherine Lee, as well as with cellist Isaac Pastor-Chermak, with whom she has presented recitals featuring the complete Beethoven Sonatas for Cello and Piano.  Other collaborative performances include appearances with the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra and violinist Charles Castleman.

Offstage, Alison is active in the community as an advocate for making classical music more approachable to the public. She regularly presents at local elementary schools through The Steinway Society of the Bay Area’s outreach program, and currently serves on the board of East Bay Music Foundation as director of the East Bay Chamber Music Festival. 

Alison holds a doctoral degree in piano performance from the University of Minnesota, and her previous teachers include Lydia Artymiw, Jon Kimura Parker and Angela Cheng.