HopeBox Charity Youth Orchestra
Music Staffs
Dr. Joseph Kim
Conductor & Music Director
Dr. Joseph Kim is an active trumpeter, conductor, and educator. As an orchestral player, he has performed with Symphony Silicon Valley and Merced Symphony, and he has worked closely with the Stanford Marching Band, Saratoga Union School District, The Harker School, and California Youth Symphony.
Dr. Kim first performed with Hopebox Charity Youth Orchestra as a guest musician in 2016. Since then he served as brass instructor in 2017, and then as assistant conductor in 2018. His continued devotion toward music education and charitable work eventually gave him the opportunity to lead HCYO as the conductor since 2019.
Sarah Lee
Director of Strings
Sarah Lee began playing the violin at age 4 in Hamburg, Germany. Continuing her musical education in the US, she received her Bachelors of Music degree at the Peabody Institute of the Johns Hopkins University under the tutelage of Keng-Yuen Tseng. As an educator dedicated to empowering youth through music, she has been instrumental in developing the New Life Music program in Korea since 2011, a program which partners professional musicians with underprivileged children in foster homes to provide musical instruction and orchestral programs. As a conductor of the New Life youth orchestras, she has led the group on tours in the US, Asia, South and Central America. In addition to her work as a conductor, she has adjudicated string festivals and competitions, and maintains an active private studio. Her students have won numerous competitions, performing in venues such as Carnegie Hall and participating in All-State and county orchestras as principal musicians.
Ms. Lee joined the HopeBox Youth Orchestra as Director of Strings in 2020.
Chag-Hee Lee
Director of Strings
A native of Seoul, Korea, Chag-Hee Lee graduated from YeWon School and Seoul Arts High School. After completing her degree at the Korean National University of Arts and Music, she received her Master of Music degree from Indiana University and Doctor of Musical Arts degree from the University of Maryland. Her primary teachers include Nam Yoon Kim, Sung Ju Lee, Ik Hwan Bae, Jonathan Carney, and Dr. Gerald Fischbach.
In 2006, Ms. Lee won both the Special Presentation Winner Series put on by Artists International and the New York Public Library Concert Series. Artists International sponsored her New York City debut recital at Weill Recital Hall in Carnegie Hall and the library sponsored her recital at Donnell Library Center. Her performance at Carnegie Hall was described by the New York Concert Review as “focused and pure on all strings and in every register. Her facility and intonation are excellent and her technique is secure and disciplined.”
Ms. Lee has appeared as concerto soloist with the Seoul, Ureuk, and Indiana University Symphony Orchestras in addition to Nova Solisti Chamber Orchestra, the Mission College Symphony, Sonnet Ensemble and Maryland Sinfonietta. She has also participated in music festivals in Aspen, Bowdoin, Banff, and Flaine along with the National Orchestral Institute at the University of Maryland. From 2005 to 2007, she served as a substitute violinist with the Baltimore Symphony. As an active solo and ensemble musician Ms. Lee has been an active member of the Fortnightly Music Club in Palo Alto since 2009.
Ms. Lee is an active first violin sectional member of Symphony San Jose and Nova Solisti Chamber Orchestra as well as concertmaster of the Mission College Symphony. She has also served as concertmaster of the California Concerto Weekend for Amateur Pianists in 2014 and 2017. As an educator, Ms. Lee served as an adjunct faculty member at Mission College in Santa Clara and the College of San Mateo in San Mateo and has served as a jury member for the Mission College Symphony Young Artist Concerto Competition since 2014 and Hopebox Charity Youth Orchestra since 2021. Recently, Ms. Lee has joined as a violin instructor at the Palo Alto Adult School and The Harker School.