Young Cellist Comes Home As An International Star

When 6-year-old Daniel Lee picked up the cello in Richard Aaron's studio, Aaron knew right away that this was a special talent.

"He was such a remarkable kid, beyond belief in some ways," remembers Aaron, who now teaches at the Cleveland Institute of Music.

"He had the most amazing concentration I've ever seen in a child, and one of the most beautiful concepts of sound. I consider him one of the leading cellists of the world."

Lee, now an 18-year-old student at Philadelphia's prestigious Curtis Institute of Music, returns to his home city of Seattle this week to open the new Seattle Symphony Young Artists Series at Benaroya's Nordstrom Recital Hall (this Tuesday at 7:30 p.m.; 206-215-4747).

After six years of intensive instruction with Aaron, the young Lee played for the legendary Mstislav Rostropovich, who then wrote to Lee's parents: "You know yourself that I do not take pupils as a rule, and my making an exception for Danny gives you an idea of my opinion of his talent and possibilities."

What is it that creates such exceptional musical maturity in a kid who is otherwise immature? Aaron marvels that even as a young child, Lee could "express himself so deeply on the cello, with the wisdom of a much older person - but verbally, and in other ways, he was still just a kid."

Lee himself can't tell you. The only child of two very involved and committed parents, Lee doesn't remember a childhood spent only with his nose to the musical grindstone.

"I just remember having a ball at school, and having lots of fun as a young kid," Lee said recently in a phone interview from Philadelphia. "After school, of course, I was always practicing, and that was a drawback because I couldn't do as much after-school stuff. I went to the Evergreen School, and had a lot of friends.

"And yes, we did have a Nintendo. We also lived right by a lake, Lake Serene, and I used to try to catch fishes. I only caught two, though."

It was a wrench, Lee admits, to move away to Philadelphia at 11 (in 1991) to study with Rostropovich.

"But it was the right decision," he says firmly.

"I was ready to go. It was more hard on my social life, but better for my music. Actually, my music became more important to me and I was happier than ever. I had been a little worried about it, but then I found the move really exciting. My mom and dad moved with me, of course, and that was very important to me."

If you have already guessed that Lee's parents play a pivotal role in his success, you're right. They gave up a successful and promising life in Seattle, where the family owned a deli/restaurant and real estate, to move to Philadelphia, where they work hard to succeed in their dry-cleaning business. They have given up a great deal in order to further Daniel's aspirations.

Aaron, in fact, has a theory that "behind every prodigy, there is a prodigy mom," and Lee's mother is a good case in point. Kyung Sook Lee attended every lesson to write down every comment of Aaron's in Korean on her own copy of the music, so all of the points could be recalled exactly during later practice sessions. Aaron calls her "exceptionally disciplined and focused."

Her concern for her son even directed the initial decision of which instrument to study. Aaron says Lee originally was going to start on the violin, but his mother discovered that all violinists develop a mark on the neck from constant contact with the instrument.

"Not her son!" Aaron recalls.

"They picked the cello for him instead - thank God! It was the instrument he was born to play."

Well, probably. Chances are good that Lee would have excelled on any instrument; he also studied the piano concurrently, and won a statewide competition on that instrument just before the move to Philadelphia.

"It really wasn't until we moved here that I made the decision to concentrate on the cello," Lee explains, "because I was studying with Rostropovich and not a major piano teacher. If I had time, I'd do both. But I got more lucky on the cello. I'd also say the cello spoke the most to me."

Rostropovich has since left Curtis, and Lee only sees him every few months - "just casually, from time to time." He also is studying with Orlando Cole, the founding cellist of the Curtis String Quartet, and with Peter Wiley, formerly of the Beaux Arts Trio.

When he has some free time, Lee is likely to read a book or maybe watch a little MTV, "just to see what's going on in the other part of the music world. I listen to rap and hip-hop, and I learn a lot."

The move to Philadelphia has taught him a lot of other things, too.

"I see how hard my dad (Sung Young Lee) works every day. My mom, too. I don't take it for granted. I know how lucky I am."