Bio
Pianist Jon Lee is a San Francisco–based soloist and chamber musician. In 2022 he won first prize at the Cliburn International Amateur Piano Competition, performing Prokofiev’s Third Piano Concerto with the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra under Miguel Harth-Bedoya at Bass Performance Hall. He has also won top prizes at international amateur competitions in San Diego, Washington, Seattle, and Boston, along with four audience prizes. His other concerto appearances include the Calgary Civic Symphony at Jack Singer Concert Hall, the Nova Vista Symphony in the Bay Area, and the Boston Pops under Keith Lockhart at Symphony Hall. As winner of the San Francisco Conservatory of Music Piano Concerto Competition, he will perform Beethoven’s Fourth Piano Concerto with the SFCM Orchestra and Edwin Outwater in 2027.
The Ethea Trio, of which he is a founding member, was named an Honors Ensemble at SFCM in 2024. In 2026 the trio was selected for the Banff Chamber Music Residency, where it prepared and recorded Dai Fujikura’s Nui with the composer. The trio has appeared in the St. Lawrence Chamber Music Seminar’s International Showcase at Stanford’s Bing Concert Hall and on the UCSF Chancellor’s Concert Series, and will perform on the Dame Myra Hess Memorial Concerts in Chicago in 2027. He has also performed chamber music with Kim Kashkashian, Stella Chen, Clive Greensmith, Nicholas Phan, and the Telegraph Quartet, and appears regularly with Fort Worth Symphony musicians through the Spectrum Chamber Music Society, including in Copland’s Appalachian Spring under Harth-Bedoya.
As a soloist, he has given recitals for San Francisco’s Noontime Concerts and Piano Celebration Week at Texas A&M University–Corpus Christi, and has also performed at Salle Cortot in Paris. Beyond the concert hall, he has played in living rooms through Groupmuse, outdoors at Flower Piano in Golden Gate Park, with the Club Foot Orchestra’s live scores for silent film, and in video game music on KUSC’s Arcade Live!
He studies with Yoshikazu Nagai at SFCM, where he completed a Performance Studies Certificate in Keyboard Performance and an Artist Diploma in Chamber Music. He has also played in masterclasses for Emanuel Ax, Leon Fleisher, Paul Lewis, Jerome Lowenthal, Russell Sherman, and Michael Tilson Thomas. Offstage, he co-founded Chamber Sessions, a series in a Mission District art gallery where passersby are invited in to listen. He also directs festival planning for the Hawaiʻi Chamber Music Festival and develops MusicPodium, an iPad app for digital score reading. Before becoming a full-time musician, he was an engineering manager at Apple. He holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in computer science from MIT.
Concert bio ( words)
Pianist Jon Lee is a San Francisco–based soloist and chamber musician. In 2022 he won first prize at the Cliburn International Amateur Piano Competition, performing Prokofiev’s Third Piano Concerto with the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra under Miguel Harth-Bedoya at Bass Performance Hall. He has also won top prizes at international amateur competitions in San Diego, Washington, Seattle, and Boston, along with four audience prizes. His other concerto appearances include the Calgary Civic Symphony at Jack Singer Concert Hall, the Nova Vista Symphony in the Bay Area, and the Boston Pops under Keith Lockhart at Symphony Hall. As winner of the San Francisco Conservatory of Music Piano Concerto Competition, he will perform Beethoven’s Fourth Piano Concerto with the SFCM Orchestra and Edwin Outwater in 2027.
The Ethea Trio, of which he is a founding member, was named an Honors Ensemble at SFCM in 2024. In 2026 the trio was selected for the Banff Chamber Music Residency, where it prepared and recorded Dai Fujikura’s Nui with the composer. The trio has appeared in the St. Lawrence Chamber Music Seminar’s International Showcase at Stanford’s Bing Concert Hall and on the UCSF Chancellor’s Concert Series, and will perform on the Dame Myra Hess Memorial Concerts in Chicago in 2027. He has also performed chamber music with Kim Kashkashian, Stella Chen, Clive Greensmith, Nicholas Phan, and the Telegraph Quartet, and appears regularly with Fort Worth Symphony musicians through the Spectrum Chamber Music Society, including in Copland’s Appalachian Spring under Harth-Bedoya.
As a soloist, he has given recitals for San Francisco’s Noontime Concerts and Piano Celebration Week at Texas A&M University–Corpus Christi, and has also performed at Salle Cortot in Paris. Beyond the concert hall, he has played in living rooms through Groupmuse, outdoors at Flower Piano in Golden Gate Park, with the Club Foot Orchestra’s live scores for silent film, and in video game music on KUSC’s Arcade Live!
He studies with Yoshikazu Nagai at SFCM, where he completed a Performance Studies Certificate in Keyboard Performance and an Artist Diploma in Chamber Music. He has also played in masterclasses for Emanuel Ax, Leon Fleisher, Paul Lewis, Jerome Lowenthal, Russell Sherman, and Michael Tilson Thomas. Offstage, he co-founded Chamber Sessions, a series in a Mission District art gallery where passersby are invited in to listen. He also directs festival planning for the Hawaiʻi Chamber Music Festival and develops MusicPodium, an iPad app for digital score reading. Before becoming a full-time musician, he was an engineering manager at Apple. He holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in computer science from MIT.
Short bio ( words)
Pianist Jon Lee is a San Francisco–based soloist and chamber musician. He won first prize at the 2022 Cliburn International Amateur Piano Competition, performing Prokofiev’s Third Piano Concerto with the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra at Bass Performance Hall, and has appeared as a concerto soloist with the Calgary Civic Symphony and the Boston Pops. He has given solo recitals for San Francisco’s Noontime Concerts and Piano Celebration Week at Texas A&M University–Corpus Christi, and has performed at Salle Cortot in Paris.
He is a founding member of the Ethea Trio, an Honors Ensemble at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, where he completed an Artist Diploma in Chamber Music. In 2026 the trio was selected for the Banff Chamber Music Residency, and in 2027 it will perform on the Dame Myra Hess Memorial Concerts in Chicago. His other collaborators include Kim Kashkashian, Clive Greensmith, Stella Chen, Dimitri Murrath, Nicholas Phan, and the Telegraph Quartet.
Offstage, he co-founded Chamber Sessions, a series in a Mission District art gallery where passersby are invited in to listen, and directs festival planning for the Hawaiʻi Chamber Music Festival. He also develops MusicPodium, an iPad app for digital score reading. He came to music full-time after working as an engineering manager at Apple, and holds degrees in computer science from MIT.
Media and photography are available on the media page.
Curriculum Vitae
A condensed CV is available online and as a PDF document. Please inquire by email for a complete version.
Repertoire
Solo
Baroque
- Johann Sebastian Bach, French Suite no. 5 in G major, BWV 816
- Johann Sebastian Bach, Partita no. 1 in B
♭ major, BWV 825 - Johann Sebastian Bach, Partita no. 4 in D major, BWV 828
- George Frideric Handel, Keyboard Suite no. 2 in F major, HWV 427
- Domenico Scarlatti, Sonatas, K. 9, 435
Classical
- Ludwig van Beethoven, Sonata no. 11 in B
♭ major, op. 22 - Ludwig van Beethoven, Sonata no. 14 in c
♯ minor, op. 27 no. 2 (“Moonlight”) - Ludwig van Beethoven, Sonata no. 18 in E
♭ major, op. 31 no. 3 - Ludwig van Beethoven, Sonata no. 23 in f minor, op. 57 (“Appassionata”)
- Ludwig van Beethoven, Sonata no. 30 in E major, op. 109
- Ludwig van Beethoven, Sonata no. 31 in A
♭ major, op. 110 - Ludwig van Beethoven, Six Bagatelles, op. 126
- Joseph Haydn, Sonata no. 13 in G major, Hob. XVI:6
- Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Sonata no. 5 in G major, K. 283
- Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Sonata no. 12 in F major, K. 332
Romantic
- Johann Sebastian Bach/Sergei Rachmaninoff, Violin Partita no. 3 in E major for piano
- Johann Sebastian Bach/Johannes Brahms, Chaconne in d minor for the left hand
- Johannes Brahms, Ballades, op. 10
- Frédéric Chopin, Etudes, op. 10 and op. 25
- Frédéric Chopin, Nocturne in F
♯ major, op. 15 no. 2 - Frédéric Chopin, Mazurka in a minor, op. 17 no. 4
- Frédéric Chopin, Preludes, op. 28
- Frédéric Chopin, Scherzo no. 2 in b
♭ minor, op. 31 - Frédéric Chopin, Fantaisie in f minor, op. 49
- Frédéric Chopin, Ballade no. 4 in f minor, op. 52
- Frédéric Chopin, Polonaise in A
♭ major, op. 53 (“Heroic”) - Frédéric Chopin, Berceuse in D
♭ major, op. 57 - Frédéric Chopin, Sonata no. 3 in b minor, op. 58
- Frédéric Chopin, Mazurka in A
♭ major, op. 59 no. 2 - Frédéric Chopin, Barcarolle in F
♯ major, op. 60 - Franz Liszt, Mephisto Waltz no. 1, S. 514
- Franz Schubert/Franz Liszt, Gretchen am Spinnrade
- Franz Schubert, Impromptus, op. 142
- Franz Schubert, Sonata in A major, op. 120, D 664
- Robert Schumann, Toccata, op. 7
- Robert Schumann, Fantasiestücke, op. 12
- Robert Schumann, Kinderszenen, op. 15
- Robert Schumann, Drei Fantasiestücke, op. 111
- Alexander Scriabin, Preludes, op. 16
- Alexander Scriabin, Sonata no. 2 in g
♯ minor, op. 19 (“Sonata-Fantaisie”)
French
- Claude Debussy, Deux arabesques
- Claude Debussy, Suite bergamasque
- Claude Debussy, Rêverie
- Claude Debussy, Estampes: Jardins sous la pluie
- Claude Debussy, Images I: Reflets dans l’eau
- Gabriel Fauré, Nocturne no. 13 in b minor, op. 119
- Maurice Ravel, Pavane pour une infante défunte
- Maurice Ravel, Sonatine
- Maurice Ravel, Le Tombeau de Couperin
20th and 21st Century
- Ulkar Aghayeva, Three Piano Fugues (2020, 2022)
- Samuel Barber, Sonata in e
♭ minor, op. 26 - Béla Bartók, Suite, op. 14
- Irene Britton Smith, Passacaglia in c
♯ minor (1940) - Francis Poulenc, Trois novelettes, FP 47/173
- Sergei Prokofiev, Sonata no. 7 in B
♭ major, op. 83 - Igor Stravinsky, Trois mouvements de Petrouchka, Chez Petrouchka
- Igor Stravinsky/Guido Agosti, L’oiseau de feu
Concerto
- Ludwig van Beethoven, Piano Concerto no. 4 in G major, op. 58
- Ludwig van Beethoven, Piano Concerto no. 5 in E
♭ major, op. 73 (“Emperor”) - Frédéric Chopin, Piano Concerto no. 2 in f minor, op. 21
- George Gershwin, Rhapsody in Blue
- Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Piano Concerto no. 20 in d minor, K. 466
- Sergei Prokofiev, Piano Concerto no. 1 in D
♭ major, op. 10 - Sergei Prokofiev, Piano Concerto no. 3 in C major, op. 26
- Maurice Ravel, Piano Concerto in G major, M. 83
- Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, Piano Concerto no. 1 in B
♭ major, op. 23
Collaborative
Sonatas
- Johann Sebastian Bach, Viola da Gamba Sonata no. 2 in D major, BWV 1028
- Ludwig van Beethoven, Cello Sonata no. 3 in A major, op. 69
- Ludwig van Beethoven, Sonata for Pianoforte with Horn (Double Bass) in F major, op. 17
- Ludwig van Beethoven, Violin Sonata no. 1 in D major, op. 12 no. 1
- Ludwig van Beethoven, Violin Sonata no. 4 in a minor, op. 23
- Johannes Brahms, Cello Sonata no. 1 in e minor, op. 38
- Johannes Brahms, Cello Sonata no. 2 in F major, op. 99
- Johannes Brahms, Clarinet Sonata no. 1 in f minor, op. 120 no. 1
- Johannes Brahms, Clarinet Sonata no. 2 in E
♭ major, op. 120 no. 2 - Johannes Brahms, Violin Sonata no. 1 in G major, op. 78
- Johannes Brahms, Violin Sonata no. 3 in d minor, op. 108
- Robert Denham, Transformatio Sonata for trumpet and piano (2024)
- César Franck, Violin (Cello) Sonata in A major
- Paul Hindemith, Viola Sonata no. 1 in F major, op. 11 no. 4
- Leoš Janáček, Violin Sonata
- Maurice Ravel, Violin Sonata no. 1, M. 12 (“Sonate posthume”)
Duos
- Ulkar Aghayeva, Bayati (2021) for cello and piano
- Eleanor Alberga, no-man’s-land lullaby (1997)
- Johannes Brahms, Piano Concerto no. 1 for piano four-hands, op. 15
- Claude Debussy, Cello Sonata, L. 135
- Gabriel Fauré, Clair de Lune
- David Garner, Capriccio (2014) for cello and piano
- Nikolai Kapustin, Nearly Waltz (1999)
- Franz Schubert, Rondo for violin and piano, op. 70, D 895
- Clara Schumann, Drei Romanzen, op. 22
- Robert Schumann, Märchenbilder, op. 113
Chamber
Classical
- Ludwig van Beethoven, Clarinet Trio, op. 11 (“Gassenhauer”)
- Ludwig van Beethoven, Piano Trio no. 1 in E
♭ major, op. 1 no. 1 - Ludwig van Beethoven, Piano Trio no. 3 in c minor, op. 1 no. 3
- Ludwig van Beethoven, Piano Trio no. 5 in D major, op. 70 no. 1 (“Ghost”)
- Ludwig van Beethoven, Piano Trio no. 7 in B
♭ major, op. 97 (“Archduke”) - Ludwig van Beethoven, Wind Quintet (and Piano Quartet), op. 16
- Joseph Haydn, Piano Trio in G major, Hob. XV:25 (“Gypsy”)
- Joseph Haydn, Piano Trio in C major, Hob. XV:27
- Joseph Haydn, Piano Trio in E
♭ major, Hob. XV:30 - Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Piano Trio in E
♭ major, K. 498 (“Kegelstatt”) - Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Piano Quartet in g minor, K. 478
- Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Piano Quartet in E
♭ major, K. 493
Romantic
- Johannes Brahms, Clarinet Trio, op. 114
- Johannes Brahms, Piano Quartet no. 2 in A major, op. 26
- Johannes Brahms, Piano Quartet no. 3 in c minor, op. 60
- Johannes Brahms, Piano Trio no. 1 in B major, op. 8
- Johannes Brahms, Piano Trio no. 2 in C major, op. 87
- Johannes Brahms, Piano Trio no. 3 in c minor, op. 101
- Antonín Dvořák, Piano Trio no. 3 in f minor, op. 65
- Antonín Dvořák, Piano Trio no. 4 in e minor, op. 90 (“Dumky”)
- Fanny Mendelssohn, Piano Trio in d minor, op. 11
- Felix Mendelssohn, Piano Trio no. 1 in d minor, op. 49
- Felix Mendelssohn, Piano Trio no. 2 in c minor, op. 66
- Vitĕzslav Novák, Piano Trio no. 2 in d minor, op. 27 (“Quasi una Ballata”)
- Dora Pejačević, Piano Trio in C major, op. 29
- Franz Schubert, Piano Trio no. 1 in B
♭ major, op. 99, D 898 - Clara Schumann, Piano Trio in g minor, op. 17
- Robert Schumann, Piano Trio no. 1 in d minor, op. 63
- Robert Schumann, Piano Trio no. 2 in F major, op. 80
- Robert Schumann, Piano Trio no. 3 in g minor, op. 110
- Robert Schumann, Piano Quartet in E
♭ major, op. 47 - Robert Schumann, Piano Quintet in E
♭ major, op. 44 - Josef Suk, Piano Quintet in g minor, op. 8
- Alice Verne-Bredt, Phantasie Trio
French
- Cécile Chaminade, Piano Trio no. 1 in g minor, op. 11
- Claude Debussy, Piano Trio (with violin or flute), L. 5
- Gabriel Fauré, Piano Quartet no. 1 in c minor, op. 15
- Gabriel Fauré, Piano Quartet no. 2 in g minor, op. 45
- Gabriel Fauré, Piano Trio in d minor, op. 120
- Maurice Ravel, Piano Trio
20th and 21st Century
- Béla Bartók, Sonata for Two Pianos and Percussion, Sz. 110
- Frank Bridge, Phantasie Piano Quartet in f
♯ minor, H. 94 - Rebecca Clarke, Piano Trio
- Samuel Coleridge-Taylor, Five Negro Melodies for Piano Trio, op. 59 no. 1
- Aaron Copland (arr. Michael Tilson Thomas), Appalachian Spring Suite (version for 13 instruments)
- Chick Corea, Addendum (1984)
- Ernő Dohnányi, Sextet, op. 37
- Eric Ewazen, Wildflowers for Flute, Clarinet, and Piano (2008)
- Dai Fujikura, Nui (2022)
- George Gershwin (arr. Sebastian Manz), Promenade (Walking the Dog)
- Philip Glass, Head-On (1967)
- Pierre Jalbert, Piano Trio no. 1 (1998)
- Joanne Na, Pung (2026) for Pierrot Sextet
- Arvo Pärt, Mozart-Adagio (1992, rev. 1997)
- Astor Piazzolla, Four Seasons of Buenos Aires for Piano Trio
- Francis Poulenc, Sextet, FP 100
- Paul Schoenfeld, Café Music (1986)
- Dmitri Shostakovich, Piano Trio no. 2 in e minor, op. 67
- Dmitri Shostakovich, Piano Quintet in g minor, op. 57
- Germaine Tailleferre, Piano Trio
- Joaquín Turina, Círculo, op. 91
- Joaquín Turina, Scène andalouse, op. 7
- He Zhanhao and Chen Gang, Butterfly Lovers Concerto (for violin and erhu)
Vocal
- Claude Debussy, Ariettes oubliées, L. 60
- Gabriel Fauré, La bonne chanson, op. 61
- Charles Tomlinson Griffes, Three Poems by Fiona MacLeod, op. 11
- Gustav Mahler, Rückert-Lieder
Sample Programs
Solo
Half program (33m)
- Handel, Keyboard Suite no. 2 in F major, HWV 427 (8m)
- Adagio
- Allegro
- Adagio
- Allegro
- Schumann, Toccata, op. 7 (7m)
- Schubert/Liszt, Gretchen am Spinnrade (4m)
- Chopin, Etude in F major, op. 10 no. 8 (3m)
- Scriabin, Sonata no. 2 in g
♯ minor, op. 19 “Sonata-Fantaisie” (11m)- Andante
- Presto
Half program (29m)
- Scarlatti, Sonata in D major K. 9 (4m)
- Scarlatti, Sonata in d minor K. 435 (4m)
- Schubert, Impromptu in B
♭ major, op. 142 no. 3 (10m) - Chopin, Scherzo no. 2 in b
♭ minor, op. 31 (11m)
Full program (75m)
- Bach, Partita no. 1 in B
♭ major, BWV 825 (17m)- Praeludium
- Allemande
- Corrente
- Sarabande
- Menuet I
- Menuet II
- Giga
- Beethoven, Sonata no. 11 in B
♭ major, op. 22 (24m)- Allegro con brio
- Adagio con molta espressione
- Minuetto
- Rondo. Allegretto
- Scriabin, Prelude in B major, op. 16 no. 1 (2m)
- Liszt, Mephisto Waltz no. 1, S. 514 (12m)
- Prokofiev, Sonata no. 7 in B
♭ major, op. 83 (20m)- Allegro inquieto
- Andante caloroso
- Precipitato
Full program (72m)
- Beethoven, Six Bagatelles, op. 126 (20m)
- Andante con moto
- Allegro
- Andante
- Presto
- Quasi allegretto
- Presto — Andante amabile e con moto
- Schubert, Sonata in A major, op. 120 (17m)
- Allegro moderato
- Andante
- Allegro
- Bach/Rachmaninov, Violin Partita no. 3 in E major for piano (8m)
- Preludio
- Gavotte
- Gigue
- Chopin, Sonata no. 3 in b minor, op. 58 (27m)
- Allegro maestoso
- Scherzo: Molto vivace
- Largo
- Finale: Presto non tanto
Collaborative
Full program (57m)
- Beethoven, Violin Sonata no. 4 in a minor, op. 23 (22m)
- Ravel, Violin Sonata no. 1, M. 12 “Sonate posthume” (13m)
- Brahms, Violin Sonata no. 3 in d minor, op. 108 (22m)
Chamber
Full program (55m)
- Debussy, Piano Trio (22m)
- Pärt, Mozart-Adagio (7m)
- Mendelssohn, Piano Trio no. 2 in c minor, op. 66 (26m)
Full program (47m)
- Corea, Addendum (5m)
- Jalbert, Piano Trio no. 1 (15m)
- Ravel, Piano Trio (27m)
Full program (48m)
“A trio sampler”
- Haydn, Allegro (first movement) from Trio in C major, Hob. XV:27 (8m)
- Coleridge-Taylor, Selections from Five Negro Melodies for piano trio, op. 59 no. 1 (8m)
- Sometimes I Feel Like a Motherless Child
- I Was Way Down A-Yonder
- Beethoven, Menuetto: Quasi Allegro (third movement) from Trio in C minor, op. 1 no. 3 (4m)
- Glass, Head-On (5m)
- Brahms, Andante con moto (second movement) from Trio in C major, op. 87 (8m)
- Pärt, Mozart-Adagio (7m)
- Schumann, Mit Feuer (fourth movement) from Trio in D major, op. 63 (8m)
Full program (87m)
- Mozart, Piano Quartet no. 1 in g minor, K. 478 (26m)
- Allegro
- Andante
- Rondo. Allegro
- Fauré, Piano Quartet no. 1 in c minor, op. 15 (33m)
- Allegro molto moderato
- Scherzo. Allegro vivo
- Adagio
- Allegro molto
- Schumann, Piano Quartet in E-flat major, op. 47 (28m)
- Sostenuto assai — Allegro ma non troppo
- Scherzo. Molto vivace
- Andante cantabile
- Finale. Vivace