Ben Lee (violinist)

Last updated

Ben Lee
Born (1980-09-14) 14 September 1980 (age 44)
Eastbourne, Sussex
Genres Classical, electronic, pop
Occupation(s)Violinist, composer, producer
Instrument Electric violin
Years active2002–present
Labels Edel AG, Universal Music Group
Website fuseofficial.com

Ben Lee (born 14 September 1980)[ citation needed ] is a British electric violinist, composer and producer. He is one half of the electric violin band FUSE with Linzi Stoppard. [1]

Contents

In 2010, Lee set a Guinness World Record for "world's fastest violinist" by playing "Flight of the Bumblebee" in 64.21 seconds, [2] [ failed verification ] and later set the record for "fastest electric violinist" in 2013. He had also previously held the Guinness World Record as the world's fastest violin player for four years. [3] [4]

Early life

Lee was born on 14 September 1980 in Eastbourne, Sussex. When Lee was 11, he won a competition on the television show "The Children's Channel" on BskyB. [5] Lee was awarded the "Daily Telegraph Young Jazz Composer of the Year" at 16. [6]

Career

Before FUSE

Lee attended the Royal College of Music from 1999 to 2003, studying violin and film music composition. While studying, Lee found work as a session musician, recording for many artists, including The Beta Band, Razorlight, Arctic Monkeys, Gorillaz, Emmy the Great, Goldfrapp, Melanie C, Lightspeed Champion, White Lies, Qemists, and Mark Ronson. He has also led the Heritage Orchestra. [7] [8] In 2005, Lee formed electric string quartet Eclipse which supported McFly on the "Wonderland" tour of the same year.

FUSE

At the end of 2007 Ben joined Linzi Stoppard to form the electric violin duo known as FUSE. [9] In 2009, FUSE signed a record deal with Edel AG Records, releasing their debut album "FUSE" the following year.[ citation needed ]

In the summer of 2009, Lee was involved in a traffic accident in which he was run over by a truck whilst cycling. He suffered damage to his right hand and wrist. His bandmate Stoppard inspired his rehabilitation by challenging him to set the Guinness World Record for "Fastest Violinist". Lee appeared on The Alan Titchmarsh Show on UK TV to make the attempt. He broke the record a week later setting a time of 64.21 seconds. [10] [11]

In December 2010, Lee again broke the record set by David Garrett, with the time of 58.515 seconds. [12] [ needs update ]

FUSE have performed at many events and concerts around the world, including C Music TV's European launch event at the 2008 Cannes Television festival, the 2009 British Red Cross International Fundraising Committee Gala Bal. [13] [14] Fashion for the Brave in London for Help for Heroes, the Household Cavalry Operational Casualties Fund, and ABF – The Soldiers Charity. [15]

In December 2010, Lee headlined at the Istanbul "Classical Crossover" festival with FUSE. [16]

In 2012, Lee appeared on The Discovery Channel's show, "Superhuman Showdown" and was named "Ultimate Superhuman". Lee was examined by a panel of sports scientists and neuroscientists including H. A. Berlin. [17] [18]

Music for screen

Lee has also contributed original music to film, television commercials and fashion shows, notably Sam Taylor Wood's "Nowhere Boy" feature film, Katie Grand's "A Kind of Blue" for Armani starring Kelly Brook and fashion shows for Alexander McQueen. [19] [20]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stradivarius</span> String instruments built by Stradivari family, particularly Antonio

A Stradivarius is one of the string instruments, such as violins, violas, cellos, and guitars, crafted by members of the Stradivari family, particularly Antonio Stradivari, in Cremona, Italy, during the late 17th and early 18th centuries. These instruments are known for their craftsmanship, tonal quality, and lasting legacy, and are considered some of the finest ever made. Stradivari's violins, in particular, are coveted by musicians and collectors, with many selling for millions of dollars.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ida Haendel</span> Polish-British-Canadian musician (1928–2020)

Ida Haendel, was a Polish-British-Canadian violinist. Haendel was a child prodigy, her career spanning over seven decades. She also became an influential teacher.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vanessa-Mae</span> British violinist

Vanessa-Mae, also called Vanessa-Mae Vanakorn Nicholson, is a British violinist with album sales reaching several million, having made her the wealthiest entertainer under 30 in the United Kingdom in 2006. She competed under the name Vanessa Vanakorn for Thailand in alpine skiing at the 2014 Winter Olympics. She was initially banned from skiing by the International Ski Federation (FIS) after participating in a qualifying race allegedly organised to enable her to qualify for the Winter Olympics. An appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport led to the ban being nullified, citing lack of evidence for her own wrongdoing or any manipulation. The FIS later issued an apology to her.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">L. Shankar</span> Indian violinist, singer and composer

Shankar Lakshminarayana, better known as L. Shankar, is an Indian violinist, singer and composer who also goes by the stage name Shenkar. Known for his innovative contributions to world music, he is often regarded as one of the pioneers of East-West fusion, blending the rich traditions of Indian classical with Western genres such as rock, pop, jazz, and electronic music. His extensive body of work spans a wide spectrum of genres, encompassing vocal and instrumental compositions. He has released 28 solo albums, the two latest being Full Moon and Over the Stars, which were released in September and August 2024, respectively. Shankar is credited with inventing the stereophonic Double violin (known as the LSD - L.Shankar Double Violin), which covers the orchestral string family's range.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hilary Hahn</span> American violinist (born 1979)

Hilary Hahn is an American violinist. A three-time Grammy Award winner, she has performed throughout the world as a soloist with leading orchestras and conductors, and as a recitalist. She is an avid supporter of contemporary classical music, and several composers have written works for her, including concerti by Edgar Meyer and Jennifer Higdon, partitas by Antón García Abril, two serenades for violin and orchestra by Einojuhani Rautavaara, and a violin and piano sonata by Lera Auerbach.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ivry Gitlis</span> Israeli violinist (1922–2020)

Ivry Gitlis was an Israeli virtuoso violinist and UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador. He performed with the world's top orchestras, including the London Philharmonic, New York Philharmonic, Berlin Philharmonic, Vienna Philharmonic, and Philadelphia Orchestra.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sophie Solomon</span> English musician

Sophie Solomon is a British violinist, songwriter and composer who fuses many different musical influences into her music. She was artistic director of the Jewish Music Institute, SOAS from 2012 to 2015 and is now Chief Marketing Officer at high-growth music technology start-up ROLI.

Joseph Curtin is an American contemporary violinmaker who lives in Ann Arbor, Michigan. He is recognised as one of the world's greatest violinmakers.

Linzi Stoppard is a British electric violinist.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">David Garrett</span> German violinist

David Christian Bongartz, known by his stage name David Garrett, is a German classical and crossover violinist and recording artist.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Oliver Lewis (violinist)</span> Musical artist

Oliver Lewis is a British violinist and founder member of the electronic music group Deviations Project. He is best known as one of the 'world's fastest violinists', having broken the Guinness World Record for the fastest performance of the Flight of the Bumblebee. Lewis played the piece during a live broadcast on the BBC children's television programme Blue Peter, in October 2010, in one minute, 3.356 seconds. Lewis seemingly broke the world record again in February 2011, on the US chat show, The Ellen DeGeneres Show. His unofficial time of 47 seconds is yet to be certified by Guinness World Records.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tarisio Auctions</span> Online auction house

Tarisio is the world's largest seller of fine stringed instruments and bows. Founded in 1999 as an auction house that specializes in string instruments and bows, Tarisio now has locations in New York, London and Berlin and serves a global clientele.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rock violin</span>

Rock violin is rock music that includes violin in its instrumental lineup. This includes rock music only and does not include classical style music using melodic motifs from rock.

Jack Liebeck is a British–German violinist. In 2010, he won a Classical Brit in the young British classical performer category. He was soloist on the score for the 2011 film Jane Eyre, directed by Cary Joji Fukunaga and also on the Oscar, Golden Globe and BAFTA nominated soundtrack for Anna Karenina (2012). Both scores were composed by Dario Marianelli. He records exclusively for Hyperion Records.

Stephen Peter Woodmore was a British electronics salesman known for his rapid speech articulation, being able to articulate 637 words per minute (wpm), a speed four times faster than the average person. Woodmore was listed by the Guinness Book of World Records as the world's fastest talker, taking the helm from the previous record holder, John Moschitta Jr., in August 1990. Woodmore lost his record in 1995, when Sean Shannon from Canada was able to articulate 655 wpm.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chad Netherland</span>

Chad Netherland is an American strongman, martial artist and businessman. His feats of strength include escaping from a set of handcuffs in 1.59 seconds, holding two planes from takeoff for a little over a minute and breaking 50 blocks of ice in 19.26 seconds.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Patricia Kopatchinskaja</span> Moldovan-Austrian musician

Patricia Kopatchinskaja is a Moldovan-Austrian-Swiss violinist.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">TwoSet Violin</span> Youtube comedy duo and classical musicians

TwoSet Violin was a musical comedy duo consisting of Australian violinists and YouTubers Brett Yang and Eddy Chen. Yang and Chen started out posting classical covers of pop music on their YouTube channel but eventually switched focus to musical comedy videos, which gained them more viewership. Yang and Chen eventually also performed in live concerts and tours. On 14 October 2024, the duo posted that they would cease creating content as TwoSet Violin.

References

  1. ↑ "Meet Fuse". fuseofficial.com.
  2. ↑ Hilary Hahn Ling Ling Workouts:
  3. ↑ "Fastest violin player". Guinness World Records. 2011. Archived from the original on 31 December 2015.
  4. ↑ "New Guinness Record for fastest violinist". Classic FM. Retrieved 25 September 2018.
  5. ↑ "Violinist is Superhuman". ITV News. 15 November 2012. Retrieved 28 July 2019.
  6. ↑ Nov 2012, 7:31PM GMT 15 (15 November 2012). "World's Fastest Superhuman title awarded to speed violinist Ben Lee". www.telegraph.co.uk. Archived from the original on 16 November 2012. Retrieved 28 July 2019.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  7. ↑ "The Beta Band Discography". The Beta Band website. UK: EMI. 4 May 2004. Archived from the original on 4 February 2012. Retrieved 20 July 2011.
  8. ↑ "Arctic Monkeys "Leave Before The Lights Come On"". Discogs website. UK: Domino Records. 2006. Retrieved 31 July 2011.
  9. ↑ Michael Pilgrim (5 May 2010). "FUSE: Daily Telegraph interview". The Telegraph . Retrieved 28 November 2010.
  10. ↑ "YouTube: Fastest violin player on Earth". YouTube website. YouTube. 23 April 2010. Retrieved 20 July 2011.
  11. ↑ "Ben Lee breaks record for world's fastest violinist". The Strad. Retrieved 25 September 2018.
  12. ↑ "Ben Lee becomes fastest violin player in history". The International News, Pakistan. 19 December 2010. Retrieved 20 July 2011.
  13. ↑ "FUSE and Britain's Got Talent star to perform at British Red Cross Gala Ball" (Press release). British Red Cross. 9 June 2009. Archived from the original on 7 March 2012. Retrieved 28 November 2010.
  14. ↑ "Hitting the Right Note! C Music TV Launches across Europe" (PDF) (Press release). C Music TV. 7 April 2008. Retrieved 28 November 2010.
  15. ↑ "The best of British fashion and the British Armed Forces to unite for a charity event like no other". The Daily Telegraph . 8 November 2010. Archived from the original on 23 July 2011. Retrieved 15 November 2010.
  16. ↑ "FUSE headline at Istanbul "Classical Crossover" festival". Istanbalview. December 2010. Retrieved 20 July 2011.
  17. ↑ Press Association (16 November 2012). "World's Fastest Superhuman title awarded to speed violinist Ben Lee". The Telegraph . Archived from the original on 16 November 2012. Retrieved 19 November 2012.
  18. ↑ "Superhuman Showdown : Programs : Discovery Channel : Discovery Press Web". press.discovery.com. Retrieved 25 September 2018.
  19. ↑ Sam Taylor Wood (2009). "Nowhere Boy – additional music" . Retrieved 20 July 2011.
  20. ↑ Katie Grand (2009). ""A Kind of Blue" – original music". Archived from the original on 27 February 2011. Retrieved 20 July 2011.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.