Biography

Korean/Canadian Countertenor, David DQ Lee is fast establishing an enviable reputation among countertenors of his generation as mentioned by Elissa Poole in the Globe and Mail, “With a powerful instrument and high A’s to rival any mezzos, reinterprets the same kind of voice as something voluptuous and exotic.”

An award winner of numerous international competitions since the age of 19; He won the 1st Grand Prize and the Best Singer prize of Lieder and Oratorio Arias at the prestigious 43rd Francisco Viñas International Singing Competition in Barcelona, Spain; 1st Prize winner of Musica Sacra International Competition in Rome, Italy; Top Prize winner of the George London Foundation in New York; 2nd prize winner of the Young Concert Artist inc International Competition in New York; 3rd prize at the Mirjam Helin International Singing Competition in Helsinki, Finland; He was one of the 10 Grand Finalists at the New York Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions; Top 5 Finalists at the Rosa Ponselle International Vocal Competition in New York; 12 Finalists at the Queen Elizabeth International Competition in Belgium; He has represented Canada and named a Concert 2 prize winner at the BBC Cardiff Singer of the World Competition.

He owes his first initiative inspiration in musical career to the film: “Farinelli;” during his late teen, without any knowledge in Baroque music history, he got acquainted with the term of “Countertenor/ Castrato.” Since then, he has self trained for several months and entered the Vancouver Academy of Music with full scholarship earning the Bachelor of Music degree working with late Canadian Mezzo-soprano, Phyllis Mailing, and his ever ending researches in countertenor repertoire began.With his wide repertoire range from Baroque to Contemporary and Jazz and Pop to New Age, he is at ease singing in operas as well as in concerts in collaboration with many international Orchestras and Opera Companies working with many re-known Conductors in the past, such as Christoph Eschenbach, Myung-Whun Chung, Simone Young, William Christie, Jean Christophe Spinosi, Rene Jacobs, Andrea Marcon, Ottavio Dantone, Kenneth Montgomery, Timothy Vernon, Andrey Boreykyo, Sergiu Comissiona, Edoardo Müller, Martin Haselböck, Alfred Eschwé, Federico Maria Sardelli, Marcus Creed, Anu Tali, Carlos Miguel Prieto, Alessandro de Marchi, Michael Sloane, Matthew Halls, Johannes Debus, Riccardo Minasi, Ion Marin, George Petrou, and Yannick Nézet-Séguin to name a few.

Since the year 2006, he has made many Triumph Opera debut appearances notably in Europe amongst other Continents singing many leading roles in Baroque and Contemporary Operas and Concerts at the Hamburg State Opera, Semperoper of Dresden, Frankfurt Opera, Köln Opera, Dortmund Opera, Halle Opera, Berlin Komischeoper, and Deutscheoper am Rhein, Nürenberg Opera in Germany; Zürich Opera and Theater Basel in Switzerland,; Madrid Royal Opera and Liceu Opera in Spain; Vienna Volksoper, Innsbruck Opera, and Theater an der Wien (where many historic operas were premiered by Mozart, Beethoven, and Strauss to name a few) in Austria; Netherlands National Opera in Amsterdam; Toulouse Opera, Opera de Rennes, Theatre de Lorient, Theatre de Brest in France; Santiago Royal Opera in Chile; Stanislavsky Opera in Moscow, Russia; Czech-Republic National Opera, Korean National Opera, and Chicago Opera Theater, and the one and only La Scala Opera in Milan, Italy to name a few.

Many European Tours, Solo Recitals, and International Music Festival appearances were made at the Ravinia Music Festival and Aspen Music Festival in USA, International Handel Music Festival in Halle, Schwetzingen Music Festival in Germany; Ambronay Music Festival, Beaune Baroque Opera Festival, Froville Music Festival, Lyon Music Festival in France; Innsbruck Music Festival in Austria, Santiago de Compostela in Spain, Opera Rara Festival in Krakow, Poland; Bucharest Music Festival in Romania, Budapest Spring Music Festival held at the Liszt Hall in Hungary, and Moscow Music Series held at the Tchaikovsky Hall in Russia.

David DQ Lee has recently earned a great Korean fame by competing in a Korean TV music program called, “Phantom Singer” and established a 2nd prize winning Quartet group named “Forténa”.

DQ is currently keeping himself very busy juggling with Opera, Classical Music, Pop/Jazz, and Cross-over Music World with many exciting projects planned including Recordings, Opera, TV appearances, and Concert tours.