Cello with Cora S.

Praised by the San Francisco Classical Voice for playing "with maturity and panache," Cora Swenson Lee is a cellist and baroque cellist who performs actively in the Boston area as well as in her current city of Rochester, NY. Cora began her studies in Chicago at the age of 4. Her most influential teachers have been Eastman School of Music professor Alan Harris, Chicago Symphony member Richard Hirschl, and long-time cellist of the renowned Vermeer Quartet, Marc Johnson. Cora holds a Bachelors Degree in Cello Performance with highest distinction from the Eastman School of Music (2010), a Masters Degree in Cello Performance from Boston University College of Fine Arts (2012), and a Doctorate in Cello Performance at the Eastman School of Music (2018). Cora is an active and passionate chamber musician. After a performance of Mendelssohn's String Octet with Emmanuel Music, the Boston Musical Intelligencer stated "Swenson Lee, whom I had not heard previously, was a treat to discover, especially in the Presto opening, which is so difficult to get to speak clearly." Cora was named as a 2014-2015 season Lorraine Hunt Lieberson Fellow at Emmanuel Music. Cora's early music ensemble, Trio Speranza, concertizes around the United States each season, and in 2014 won the Presentation Prize at Early Music America's Baroque Performance Competition. Cora performs frequently with Emmanuel Music, Boston Baroque, and the Rochester Philharmonic, and has previously appeared with the Handel and Haydn Society and the New World Symphony. Cora has performed in venues across the United States and internationally. Highlights include appearances at the San Francisco Early Music Society, Trinity Church Copley and Jordan Hall in Boston, Quigley Chapel and DePaul University in Chicago, and Odori Park in Sapporo Japan with former Vienna Philharmonic concertmaster Werner Hink and principal clarinetist Peter Schmiedl. A passionate educator, Cora runs a private studio and is on the faculty of the Hochstein School of Music and Dance and the Eastman Cello Institute. She is a former teaching assistant for Alan Harris at the Eastman School of music. While living in the Boston area, Cora served as a performer, teacher and ambassador for musiConnects and as cellist of the Boston Public Quartet.