Abigail Lee

Abigail Lee is a senior at Westview High School in Portland, Oregon. She began playing violin at age 7 and currently studies with Hae-Jin Kim. Abigail has been a part of the Portland Youth Philharmonic Association for 8 years and currently serves as Principal Second Violin of the Philharmonic Orchestra and Camerata PYP Orchestra.

As an active soloist, Abigail performed with the Jewish Community Orchestra as a winner of its Young Artist Competition and is the YAD! Zorro Award recipient of Cognizart by MetroArts YAD! Competition, which she also performed at as a winner. Also, she has won several competitions including the Eugene Symphony Guild Young Artist Competition, the American Protégé: International Piano and Strings Competition, the Grand Metropolitan International Music Competition, the OMTA Jeannette Scott Briggs Scholarship Award Competition, the OMTA Trula Whelan Concerto Festival, the OMTA Orchestral Instrumental Scholarship Award Competition, and she was also the finalist of the 2022 and 2024 Oregon ASTA Solo Competition.

Alongside her solo studies, she was honored to be selected for the 2024 and 2026 OMEA All-State HS Honors Orchestra as Assistant Concertmaster and Concertmaster, and the 2025 NAfME All-NW HS Honors Orchestra. She has played in numerous chamber music groups and won first place in the 2026 OMEA State Championship in Large Ensemble Division. Abigail has participated in masterclasses with renowned artists such as Alexi Kenny, Blair Milton, I-Hao Lee, Ann Setzer, Paul Kantor, and the Brentano String Quartet. In past summers, she attended the 2024 Boston University Tanglewood Institute (BUTI), the 2025 Summer Violin Institute at Northwestern’s Bienen School of Music, the 2025 OrpheusPDX Pathways Program where she played as assistant concertmaster with professional musicians, Bowdoin International Music Festival, and Center Stage Strings. Throughout her summers, she has been taught by esteemed violinists Fabiola Kim, Sergiu Schwartz, and Caroline Pliszka.

Due to her passion for music, she is actively involved in non-profit community music education organizations: Project Prelude and Music4Harmony. She currently resides as the Regional Director of Project Prelude and the Executive Director of Music4Harmony. Besides music, Abigail loves spending time with her family, reading, and hanging out with her friends.