Okkyung Lee (KR)

About

Also known as: Okkyung Lee

Okkyung Lee is a cellist who treats her instrument less like a classical voice and more like a noise machine, a folk string and a free improv partner all at once. Born in Daejeon, South Korea, she studied at Berklee and the New England Conservatory before landing in New York in 2000 and throwing herself into the downtown scene there. Since then her collaborator list has become absurdly wide: Laurie Anderson, Thurston Moore, Cecil Taylor, Wadada Leo Smith, Jenny Hval, Arca, Evan Parker, Swans and plenty of John Zorn projects. Her own records run from Nihm and Noisy Love Songs (For George Dyer) on Tzadik to Ghil, Yeo Neun and a split release with Florian Hecker. She has won a Doris Duke Performing Artist Award and an Instant Award in Improvised Music, and she can be heard on the cello in the score for the 2025 film The Testament of Ann Lee. Most recently she put out just like any other day, a set of background music for your mundane activities.