About the Artists

Presented by Clayton State University’s Department of Visual and Performing Arts.

Laurin Smith, violin
Paul Warner, cello
You Ju Lee, piano

You Ju Lee, pianist, has won numerous awards and performed recitals in Asia, Europe, and the United States. She holds degrees from Ehwa Women’s University in Seoul, Korea, Georgia State University in Georgia, London City University in London England, Eastman School of Music in Rochester, and Manhattan School of Music in New York City. Her recent professional highlights include solo and duo piano recitals at Espace Eropa Courecelles, Montigny-les-Metz, France; Saison du Conservatoire, Menton, France; Culturelle Paul Barblé, Strassen, Luxemburg; Sejong Cultural & Arts Center, Seoul, Korea; Liszt Museum, Budapest, Hungary; The City Hall, Tokyo, Japan; Druker Auditorium, Newton, Massachussetts; Steinway Hall, New York; Spivey Hall, Atlanta, Georgia; Winners Gala Concert for the American Protégé International Competition of Romantic Music and New York Debut Recital in the Artists International Special Presentation Winners’ Series at Carnegie Hall’s Weill Recital Hall. Reviews of her recent concerts in Germany stated, “Pianist You Ju Lee is a remarkable soloist and she brought clear, defined sonorous contour to Mozart’s Concerto K. 449.” Her Piano Trio Concert was broadcast on WRAF radio in (90.9 FM/88.5 FM), and she was interviewed by Newton TV, in Newton, MA. She was featured as the cover story in The Music: “You Ju Lee at Toccoa Falls College.” Her CD entitled Chopin: Selected Piano Works, is available from the Apple iTunes Store and Amazon.com. Dr. Lee currently serves as a Professor of Piano at Toccoa Falls College, in Toccoa, Georgia. Recently, she has been named the Fuller E. Callaway Professorial Chair of Piano.

Paul Warner, cellist, recognized the cello as “his” voice when he heard the cello demonstrated in a school assembly when he was 10.  Paul was in high school when another Paul, Paul Olefsky, came to perform with The Saginaw Symphony.  He gave a master class on the following evening and soon Mr. Warner was studying with Mr. Olefsky.  Within a year student Paul won The Saginaw Symphony Young Artist Competition and played Boellmann Variations for cello and orchestra.  Besides attending Interlochen, the National Music Camp, Paul attended Smith College for intensive chamber music study sessions held by Peabody Conservatory.  Following graduation from Arthur Hill High School Paul was awarded a full tuition scholarship to the Peabody Conservatory from which he graduated in 1969.

The Toronto Symphony had a cello opening in 1969 so Paul borrowed a better cello from the personnel manager of the Baltimore Symphony and flew to Toronto where the audition committee invited him to stay and play for a week.  His next audition, Paul’s third successful one, then was for The Atlanta Symphony where he has been a member since 1970.  Since then, Paul has played in numerous recitals, chamber music performances, and as a soloist.  He plays a modern Italian instrument made for him by Giovanni Lazzaro.

Laurin Smith, violinist/violist, studied with Itzhak Perlman, Masao Kawasaki, Dorothy Delay, and Andrew Galos. He has performed as a violinist, violist, and conductor across North America, as well as in Europe and Asia. For many summers, he served as the orchestra director and a chamber-music coach at Soundfest in Falmouth, Massachusetts, working alongside and performing with the Colorado Quartet. He has taught at colleges and universities including Brooklyn College, Clemson University, The University of Georgia, and The University of North Georgia, as well as summer programs in Maine, Massachusetts, New York. In the summers he co-directs Laurel Ridge Music Festival (also based in North Georgia), where he directs the orchestra and coaches and performs chamber music. He is the founder, music-director, and conductor of the North Georgia Chamber Symphony. In addition to teaching private students in the Athens and Gainesville areas, he performs regularly as a member of Symphony Orchestra Augusta

Beethoven: Piano Trio in C minor, Op. 1 No. 3
Liszt: Tristia–La vallée d’Obermann
Rachmaninov: Trio élégiaque No. 1 in G minor