Spanish-Taiwanese cellist Mon-Puo Lee is acclaimed for his sensitive sound,expressivity, and imagination, and has established a distinctive international career as a soloist, chamber musician and educator.
After winning top prizes at the Isang Yun International Cello Competition (South Korea) and the George Enescu International Competition (Bucharest), he has appeared in major venues and festivals including the Berlin Philharmonie (where he made his debut at the age of 22 performing Dvořák’s Cello Concerto), the Konzerthaus Berlin, Wigmore Hall, Concertgebouw Amsterdam, Stadtcasino Basel, the Kronberg Festival, the Auditorio Nacional de Música (Madrid), the Tongyeong Concert Hall (South Korea), and further concert halls across Europe, North America, South America and Asia.
As a soloist, Mon-Puo has performed with orchestras such as the Berliner Symphoniker, Deutsches Kammerorchester Berlin, Enescu Festival Orchestra, Nürnberg Symphoniker, the Chamber Orchestra of Andrés Segovia, the Tongyeong Festival Orchestra, the Extremadura Symphony Orchestra, the Harbin Symphony Orchestra, Camerata Taiwan, and the Jenaer Symphoniker, working with conductors including Michael Sanderling, Alexandre Bloch, David Geringas, and Álvaro Albiach. Top prizewinner at competitions including Brahms (Austria), Davydov (Latvia), Khachaturian (Yerevan), and Schoenfeld (Harbin), Mon-Puo has also been recognised for his artistic contributions in Spain and Taiwan, receiving the title of “Extraordinary Musician” in Madrid and being named “Ambassador of Culture” in Taiwan. During his studies at the Escuela Superior de Música Reina Sofía, he was awarded twice for outstanding achievement (including chamber music recognition presented by H.M. Queen Sofía of Spain).
Equally committed to chamber music, Mon-Puo was a member of the Kelemen Quartet for three years and has collaborated with musicians such as Andreas Ottensamer, Jan Vogler, Robert Levin, Clara-Jumi Kang, Vilde Frang, Alexander Gadjiev, Paul Neubauer and Nai-Yuan Hu. Born in Madrid to a Taiwanese family of artists, Mon-Puo studied with Natalia Shakhovskaya and Ivan Monighetti in Madrid, and completed further studies at the Universität der Künste Berlin with Prof. Jens-Peter Maintz. Always driven by curiosity and development, he continues postgraduate work in Basel with violinist Rainer Schmidt and pianist Claudio Martínez-Mehner, and also pursues improvisation as part of his artistic practice.