Widely recognized for her musical depth and interpretive insight, Sora Elisabeth Lee is swiftly establishing herself as a distinctive presence on the international stage. Equally at home in the concert hall, opera house, and ballet theatre, she brings a rare versatility shaped by her passion for both core repertoire and lesser-known works. This breadth has made her a sought-after collaborator among leading ensembles throughout Europe and beyond.

Recent highlights include Carmen at the Opéra Comique in Paris, Sleeping Beauty at the Opéra national de Paris–Bastille, concerts with the Orchestre de Paris and the Orchestre national d’Île-de-France at the Philharmonie de Paris, as well as appearances with the Sinfonieorchester Basel at the Stadtcasino Basel, the Orchestre de chambre de Paris at the Théâtre du Châtelet, and the Staatsphilharmonie Rheinland-Pfalz.

In the 2025/26 season, she led productions and concerts with Dutch National Opera (Netherlands), Opéra de Lausanne (Switzerland), Opera North (England), Opera Vlaanderen – Antwerp (Belgium), Opéra de Toulon, and Opéra national de Lorraine (France). She will also return to conduct the Orchestre National Bordeaux Aquitaine, Orchestre National de Montpellier Occitanie, and the Orchestre National des Pays de la Loire. Additionally, she will assume the role of Music Director of the Orchestre des Jeunes de la Méditerranée, the resident orchestra of the Festival d’Aix-enProvence.

Previously, she served as Assistant Conductor with the Orchestre de Paris, working closely with Music Director Klaus Mäkelä and guest conductors including Jaap van Zweden and Stanislav Kochanovsky. She has also collaborated with Andrea Sanguineti, Aziz Shokhakimov, and Louis Langrée through various other assistantships and engagements. Prior to that, she was appointed as the first Assistant Conductor at the Opéra national du Rhin in Strasbourg, where she stepped in on short notice to lead the French premiere of Walter Braunfels’s Die Vögel—a performance that earned her a standing ovation.

Sora Elisabeth holds a Master’s degree in Orchestral Conducting from the Conservatoire national supérieur de musique et de danse de Paris, where she studied with Alain Altinoglu, and a Bachelor’s degree from the University of Music and Performing Arts Munich under the guidance of Bruno Weil. During her studies, she conducted the BBC Philharmonic, Münchner Symphoniker, Münchener Kammerorchester, and Dresdner Philharmonie Kammerorchester, and deepened her artistic development through work with Jorma Panula (Panula Academy), Fabio Luisi (Fondazione Arturo Toscanini), Stefan Asbury (Tanglewood), and Richard Hetherington and Mark Shanahan (Royal Opera House, Covent Garden).

An accomplished solo and collaborative pianist, she is recognized for her refined musical sensibility and broad experience, making her a valued partner to both instrumentalists and vocalists. Her excellence in this field was honored with the Best Accompanist Prize at the 2014 International Joseph Suder Lied Competition in Nuremberg, Germany.

Committed to linguistic and cultural fluency, she has studied German, English, French, and Italian since relocating to Europe in 2012. She is currently based in Paris, France.

Sora Elisabeth Lee

OCCUPATION
Artist in residency, Festival d’Aix-en-Provence/ France (2024)
Assistant Conductor, Orchestre de Paris/ Paris, France (2022-2023)
Assistant Conductor, Opéra national du Rhin/ Strasbourg, France (2021-2022)

EDUCATION
2017-2019 Master’s in Orchestral Conducting,
Conservatoire National Supérieur de
Musique et de Danse de Paris, France/ Prof. Alain Altinoglu
2012-2016 Bachelor’s in Orchestral Conducting,
University of Music and Performing Arts
Munich, Germany/ Prof. Bruno Weil

ORCHESTRAS
Orchestre de Paris, BBC Philharmonic, Ensemble intercontemporain, Orchestre les Siécles, Orchestre philharmonie de Strasbourg, Munich Symphony Orchestra, Dresden Philharmonic Chamber Orchestra, Orchestre Pasdeloup, Orchestre Regional Avignon-Provence, Hungarian Symphony Orchestra Miskolc, Budapest MAV Orchestra, Orchestre de Picardie, Ingolstadt Georgian Chamber Orchestra, Munich Chamber Orchestra, Orchestra de chambre de Paris, Royal Northern College of Music Orchestra

MASTERCLASSES
Fabio Luisi (Fondazione Arturo Toscanini), Jorma Panula (Panula Academy), Stefan Asbury (Tanglewood Music Center Conducting Fellowship Program), Richard Hetherington, Mark Shanahan (Royal Opera House Covent Garden), Lawrence Foster, Peter Manning, Mark Heron, Clark Rundell (Royal Northern College of Music), Gal Tamas, Ed Spanjaard, Ekkehard Klemm, Alexander Liebreich, Michael Gläser, Rupert Hubert

AWARDS
Nominated for category Artist-Creative, Les Eloges 2023, France
Nominated for category Révélation Chef d’orchestre, Les Victoire de la Musique Classique 2023, France
Best pianist award, Joseph Suder Lied Competition 2014, Germany

LANGUAGES
German-fluent/ English-fluent/ French-fluent/ Italian-proficient/ Korean-native Language