Violinist Heather Beckman Lee seeks to create genuine connections and foster empathy through chamber music, particularly with those in underrepresented communities. As a founding member of the Solideo String Quartet, Heather has helped bring classical and contemporary works to diverse spaces and audiences in order to promote admiration for truth and beauty, conversations across generations and cultures, and further access to live performances.
As a soloist, Heather has been invited to perform with the Menomonee Falls Symphony and Concord Chamber Orchestra, in addition to the Carthage Philharmonic. Additionally, she has been a Henry Mancini Fellow in Miami and was in the inaugural Fellowship String Quartet at UIUC under the renowned Jupiter Quartet. Heather has studied closely with Nelson Lee, Megan Freivogel, Charles Castleman, Jackie Fisher, and the Jupiter Quartet, at the University of Illinois, the University of Miami’s Frost School of Music, and Carthage College.
The artistic director of Raise the Bar, a virtual mentorship program, Heather connected professional musicians with students who had little access to music education in Chicagoland during the pandemic. Raise the Bar grew to provide hundreds of hours of free lessons and mentorship and was privileged to partner with the Negaunee Music Institute of the Chicago Symphony, and members of the Back to Bach Project, the San Francisco Symphony Chorus, the New World Symphony, and more. Heather continues to maintain a private violin studio and looks forward to creating opportunities to bring people together by sharing beauty through teaching and performing in the years to come.
