Seiko Lee
Encyclopedia
As a professional has performed in both the opera house and concert stage in Europe, South America, Asia and the United States. She has recorded as soloist for Sony, RCA Victor and Manhattan Center
Manhattan Center
The Manhattan Center building, built in 1906 and located at 311 West 34th Street in Midtown Manhattan, houses Manhattan Center Studios , its Grand Ballroom, and the Hammerstein Ballroom, one of New York City's most renowned performance venues...
Records. In 2006 she became one of the few Japanese artists to perform in North Korea
North Korea
The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea , , is a country in East Asia, occupying the northern half of the Korean Peninsula. Its capital and largest city is Pyongyang. The Korean Demilitarized Zone serves as the buffer zone between North Korea and South Korea...
.
Her concert tours have taken her to several of the world's preeminent venues including New York's Lincoln Center, Manhattan Center
Manhattan Center
The Manhattan Center building, built in 1906 and located at 311 West 34th Street in Midtown Manhattan, houses Manhattan Center Studios , its Grand Ballroom, and the Hammerstein Ballroom, one of New York City's most renowned performance venues...
and Madison Square Garden
Madison Square Garden
Madison Square Garden, often abbreviated as MSG and known colloquially as The Garden, is a multi-purpose indoor arena in the New York City borough of Manhattan and located at 8th Avenue, between 31st and 33rd Streets, situated on top of Pennsylvania Station.Opened on February 11, 1968, it is the...
, Japan's Makuhari Messe and Shin Koguki-kan Stadium and Seoul's Olympic Stadium in 1992 where she performed for 120,000 people as part of the first World Cultural and Sports Festival. She has performed for many world dignitaries including the Japanese Emperor and former heads of state such as Sir Edward Heath of Britain, H.E. Kenneth Kuanda of Zambia, H.E. Rodrigo Escobar Navia of Columbia and H.E. Stanislav Shushkevich of Belarus.
After her graduation of the Tokyo National University of Fine Arts (Tokyo Geidai), Seiko Lee has appeared in numerous international opera productions including Carmen, Macbeth, La traviata, Suor Angelica, Così fan tutte, and Un Destino Immortale. In addition, she has performed with the Japan Opera Studio in Tokyo. She made her US operatic debut in New York City with the La Scaletta Opera and she has also appeared with the Connecticut Opera and New York's Henry Street Opera. In 1998 she presented a joint recital in Asunción, Paraguay with national icon, Gloria del Paraguay
Gloria del Paraguay
Gloria Criscione Pineda, known artistically as “Gloria del Paraguay” is an Paraguayan Soprano, recognizet for her versatile voice.She performs both in Classical Music Concerts as well as singing Arias. She sings Arias as a Lyric soprano and Arias as a Dramatic soprano, also she sings Arias as a...
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Since 1996 she has been a frequent soloist with the New York City Symphony and the NYC Symphony Chamber Ensemble. In 1996 she toured with the NYC Symphony Chamber Ensemble in concerts in New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago, Connecticut and Washington, D.C. In 1998 and 1999 she appeared as a soloist at the Lincoln Center with New York's historic Goldman Memorial Band. In 2002 she appeared with the New York City Symphony Chamber Ensemble in the Temple Recital Series in Salt Lake City, Utah
Salt Lake City, Utah
Salt Lake City is the capital and the most populous city of the U.S. state of Utah. The name of the city is often shortened to Salt Lake or SLC. With a population of 186,440 as of the 2010 Census, the city lies in the Salt Lake City metropolitan area, which has a total population of 1,124,197...
. In 2005 she was the featured soloist at the inaugural ceremony of the Universal Peace Federation at Lincoln Center's Alice Tully Hall
Alice Tully Hall
Alice Tully Hall is a concert hall at the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts in New York City. It is named for Alice Tully, a New York performer and philanthropist whose donations assisted in the construction of the hall...
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She appeared as a featured soloist in the Three Sopranos World Peace Concert in Asunción, Paraguay in 2007.
Peace Advocacy
Beyond her career as a concert artist, Lee has exhibited a deep concern for issues of world peace and human rights.She released her first CD Songs of Peace and in 2005 she released her second CD, "Liberation-Songs of My Spiritual Country" dedicated to the peace initiative of healing the enmity between Japan and South Korea. She has traveled extensively to Japan and Korea to promote the healing and reconciliation of these two countries through music. She has made frequent appearances at the United Nations
United Nations
The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...
in peace concerts for reconciliation and healing as well. Her concerts in North Korea
North Korea
The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea , , is a country in East Asia, occupying the northern half of the Korean Peninsula. Its capital and largest city is Pyongyang. The Korean Demilitarized Zone serves as the buffer zone between North Korea and South Korea...
are also a result of her peace advocacy through music. She has performed in concert in North Korea in 2006, 2007 and 2008. She was recipient of the Gold Medal award for here performance in 2008 at the International Art Festival in Pyongyang.
In 2005 and 2006 she appeared with the renowned, Israeli vocalist David D'Or
David D'Or
David D'Or is an Israeli singer, composer, and songwriter. A countertenor with a vocal range of more than four octaves, he is a three-time winner of the Israeli "Singer of the Year" and "Best Vocal Performer" awards. He was also chosen to represent Israel in the 2004 Eurovision Song Contest, at...
in Jerusalem as part of the Middle East Peace Initiative Concerts for Interreligious Unity.
In April 2006 she returned to Tel Aviv
Tel Aviv
Tel Aviv , officially Tel Aviv-Yafo , is the second most populous city in Israel, with a population of 404,400 on a land area of . The city is located on the Israeli Mediterranean coastline in west-central Israel. It is the largest and most populous city in the metropolitan area of Gush Dan, with...
where she appeared with the R’ananna Symphony Orchestra as a featured vocalist in the premiere recording of the 40-minute ten-movement "peace cantata
Cantata
A cantata is a vocal composition with an instrumental accompaniment, typically in several movements, often involving a choir....
", "Halelu--Songs of David", co-composed by D'Or and Eaton. The composition for solo voices, chorus
Choir
A choir, chorale or chorus is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform.A body of singers who perform together as a group is called a choir or chorus...
, and orchestra
Orchestra
An orchestra is a sizable instrumental ensemble that contains sections of string, brass, woodwind, and percussion instruments. The term orchestra derives from the Greek ορχήστρα, the name for the area in front of an ancient Greek stage reserved for the Greek chorus...
, was a collaborative effort of D’Or and Eaton. Halelu is sung in English, Hebrew, Arabic and Latin, with greetings of peace of Judaism, Christianity and Islam figuring prominently in the lyrical content of several movements.
On May 19, 2007, she performed with D'Or in the world premier performance of "Halelu--Songs of David", at the Sava Center in Belgrade, Serbia. The concert was televised to six other Eastern European countries. Eaton conducted the combined Belgrade Philharmonic Orchestra
Belgrade Philharmonic Orchestra
The Belgrade Philharmonic Orchestra is an orchestra in Serbia, regularly considered as one of the finest in the country. Its home base is in Belgrade.- History :...
and the 120-voice choir of the Academic Cultural Artistic Society.
She appeared with maestro Eaton and D'Or in a second performance of Halelu in Sofia, Bulgaria on October 8, 2007, with the Sofia Philharmonic and Chorus.
Seiko Lee is the president of the Seiko Lee Project, a non-profit organization, and has contributed to numerous social and charitable activities, including reconciliation projects for Rwanda, Zambia, West Africa and Guinea Bissau.
Healing Through Song
Beginning in 2008, Ms. Lee has performed a series of concerts in Asia promoting breast cancer awareness for the Japan Association of Breast Cancer and Thyroid Sonology (JABTS). These Pink Ribbon concerts tool place on Yokohama City and Yamato City. Her healing concerts were initiated in Nepal and have taken place primarily in Japan including performances at the Dokkyo Medical University Hospital and Yamato Seiwa Hospital.She has just finished her recital at Tokyo Bunka Kaikan, a historical concert hall, in October 2009 and had received a high evaluation at the concert.
Recordings & video
- Song of Peace: CD, Music by Sibelius, Gounod, Rogers and Hammerstein, etc. Copyright, SeikoLee Project, 2001
- Liberation-Songs of My Spiritual Country, CD, Traditional Korean Melodies, Copyright, SeikoLee Project, 2005
- Halelu-Songs of David, CD, Cantata for Peace, Music by David D'Or and David Eaton, Copyright, David Eaton/David D'Or, 2006
- Seiko Lee, Holiday Benefit & World Tour Concert, DVD, Live Concert, Copyright, SeikoLee Project, 2007
External links
- Official Website of Seiko Lee
- "Japanese Soprano mesmerizes audience at the National Academy hall" Nepal News. March 11, 2008.