Ryan Davis and Song Hee Lee - viola, cello, and electronics

Watch Ryan and Song Hee perform Limestone & Felt by Pulitzer prize-winning composer Caroline Shaw:

International performers and partners in crime Ryan Davis (viola) and Song Hee Lee (cello) bring their uniquely innovative music to St. Andrew's-Wesley United Church in the heart of downtown Vancouver. Together, they blend classical virtuosity with live electronics, and inspired by folk, classical, and hip-hop music.

Bios:

“A violist unlike any other” (Stir Vancouver), Canadian Ryan Davis has swiftly emerged as a singular creative force. Davis commands praise for his presence as a composer-performer under the moniker Radia, unifying his extensive classical training with the inspiration of folk, electronic, and hip-hop music. An “electronic Wunderkind” (OperaRamblings), he delights in redefining the viola’s profile and seamlessly blending in between creative spaces. His unique sound has garnered attention and has been featured in diverse spaces, including in Toronto’s Koerner Hall, The Violin Channel, in Los Angeles’s Skid Row, and on ABC Channel 7 News LA. Of Glow & Abandon, his debut EP, was released on all major platforms in December 2021, “showcasing multitudes of colours and possibilities, with much skill and imagination” (The WholeNote). He was named one of “30 Hot Canadian Classical Musicians Under 30” by CBC Music in 2021. Davis was recently appointed as Assistant Professor, Viola, at the University of British Columbia’s School of Music in Vancouver.

Korean-born cellist Song Hee Lee joined the Toronto Symphony Orchestra in September 2022. Prior to this, she served as the principal cellist of the Verbier Festival Orchestra, Music Academy of the West Orchestra, Manhattan School of Music Orchestra, and Jacobs School of Music Philharmonic Orchestra. In recent years, during the pandemic, she also served as a guest principal with the Daejeon Philharmonic Orchestra, and an assistant principal with the Tongyeong International Music Festival Orchestra and Symphony S.O.N.G. in Korea.

As a musician, Lee is a recipient of Verbier Festival Awards and a finalist of the Kirishima International Music Festival Competition. Lee has collaborated with highly esteemed artists such as Menahem Pressler, Kurt Masur, James Conlon, Plácido Domingo, Jeremy Denk, Richard O’Neill, and Quatuor Ébène. She has also performed under the baton of many conductors including Gustavo Dudamel, Alan Gilbert, Valery Gergiev, Fabio Luisi, and Gerard Schwarz. She has frequently performed in both the US and South Korea in well-known venues including Carnegie Hall, Alice Tully Hall, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Walt Disney Concert Hall, Seoul Arts Center, and Lotte Concert Hall.

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