COURTESY OF JENNIFER LEEThe star of this weekend’s performance by the Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra can’t drive, vote or buy cigarettes. This Thursday at 8 p.m. marks 15-year-old Rachel Lee’s debut in Powell Hall. Under the direction of Itzhak Perlman, Rachel’s instructor, the Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra will accompany Rachel as she plays Paganini’s Concerto No. 1 in D major. Critics, musicians and teachers alike have labeled Rachel a musical prodigy, and the San Diego Daily Transcript branded her “a violinist of utmost stature, a performer with maturity beyond her years.”
Rachel had her first violin lesson at the fresh young age of four, when most children were beginning to learn how to read. She asked her mother for a violin after seeing one on TV. Rachel’s mother, Caron Lee, said it didn’t take long for her daughter’s talent to show.
“I noticed she had great potential right away,” Mrs. Lee said, “I could tell by the second or third lesson, and so could her teachers.”
The same year she picked up the violin, Rachel gave her first public performance in Chicago. Two years later, she won her first competition at age six. When Rachel received admission to the prestigious Juilliard School of Music at age eight, her family moved from their home in Chicago to New York for her career. While other eight-year-olds spent all day playing four-square and building forts, Rachel’s impressive discipline helped secure her instant success as a musician.
“From the beginning she was very self-motivated,” Mrs. Lee affirmed. “She persisted to play music and practiced by herself. It’s very hard for little children to practice every day, but she did it.”
There remains little doubt that Rachel’s early investment in practice time earned her a valuable return. In 1998, Rachel became the youngest musician ever selected to give a recital at the La Jolla Chamber of Music Society’s Prodigy Series at ten years old. That same year she was featured in the UN’s 50th Anniversary celebration of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Last March she performed with the National Symphony Orchestra at the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC. She has also appeared with Disney’s Young Musicians Symphony Orchestra as well as the KBS Symphony Orchestra in her native country of South Korea.
Rachel faced her largest crowd ever at the 2000 Grammy Awards, where an estimated audience of 20,000 people showed. Such daunting numbers used to shake up her nerves when she was younger, but now with so many shows under her belt, Rachel is slowly becoming a performance pro.
“Sometimes I get more nervous than other times, but it’s gotten a lot better,” Rachel said with an air of confidence. “Because I’m more experienced now, I can handle it better and be in control.”
Rachel has trained herself to handle pressure both on and off the stage. Though she spends her Saturdays in the Pre-College Division at Juilliard, during the week she plays the role of a Scarsdale High School sophomore. Though some nights she has had to stay up till 4 a.m. writing a paper, Rachel explained that pulling all-nighters does not reflect her typical routine. For now, at least, she seems to have mastered the art of balancing schoolwork with her music.
“So far it hasn’t been too difficult,” Rachel said. “I’ve always found time to do everything. When school gets busier, I have to make up a lot of stuff; but my teachers give me extensions if I talk to them about it before.”
Aside from having to juggle a budding music career with English papers, Rachel’s mature musical taste distinguishes her from the average teenager. While her friends crank Justin Timberlake from their stereos, she prefers the sweet melodies of Stravinsky.
“I mostly listen to classical music, which is kind of natural because I play classical music,” Rachel said matter-of-factly. “I used to listen to [popular music] a lot more, and I still do sometimes, but I got kind of tired of it. It all sounds the same to me.”
Even if the bubble-gum world of pop has lost its flavor earlier for Rachel than for many of her peers, she insists that she is a pretty “normal” kid overall. But with an ex-composer for a grandmother and three aunts who graduated from music school, it is no secret that unusual musical talent runs in her family’s blood. Her brother Jesse, a high school senior, studies clarinet at Juilliard; and Jonathan, a seventh grader, is auditioning to learn violin there.
Rachel will perform with the Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra this Thursday, Friday and Saturday at Powell Hall, located at 718 N. Grand. She currently lives what she calls a normal life with her parents, brothers and cat in Scarsdale, NY. Traveling across the globe, performing an average of two concerts a month, and being labeled a musical prodigy before graduating high school? Life doesn’t get much more normal than that.