Seeing music live is a great way to really feel the music, especially when you position yourself directly between the cymbals. Be at the center of it all with this GrouponLive deal to see violinist Anna Lee, presented with Renaissance Musical Arts, at the Massry Center for the Arts. For $14, you get one ticket for best-available seating on Sunday, January 27, at 3 p.m. (up to a $27.50 value, including fees). Doors open at 2 p.m.
Brought up in a music-loving family in Seoul, South Korea, Anna Lee can remember waiting at church for her father, a violinist, to finish teaching his lessons. Wanting to play the violin too, a 4-year-old Lee asked her parents if she could start taking lessons, but her father, remembering his initial resentment when the instrument was forced on him, refused. Fortunately, Anna won him over, and within months, she was playing pieces far beyond the range of most high-school students. Since then, her star has only risen with studies at Juilliard, a featured appearance on From the Top at Carnegie Hall, and top honors in the 2010 and 2012 Menuhin Competition for young violinists.
Technically dazzling, her vivacious, philosophical personality lends her performances a passion and nuance rivaled only by the suppressed frown of an angry president. As she told the Peoria Journal Star, "the violin and I have very similar personalities. A lot of ups and downs. At the same time, very mellow."
