Josh Lee was born in Spartanburg, South Carolina to a family who had historically worked in the region's textile mills and peach orchards. Early on Josh responded to music, whistling in conversation with his father as they passed themes by Bach, Mozart, and the Beatles back and forth during car rides. In the fifth grade he took up the violin and hated it, tuning his strings so high he hoped they would break and he could avoid practicing or going to class. Thankfully the strings never broke, and his teachers encouraged him to pick up the double bass. With that change Josh became addicted to music, throwing himself into lessons, summer festivals, and losing himself for hours while practicing.
After high school, Josh attended Peabody Conservatory, intending to study the double bass. However, just before heading off to college he heard recordings of the Baltimore Consort and Fretwork and was riveted with curiosity about the viol, despite never having seen one in person. Soon after he signed up for lessons with Ann Marie Morgan, and by his third year he switched majors, giving up scholarships in order to pursue his passion and obsession. The viol opened the doors to a career he could have never predicted.
Now over twenty-five years into his journey with the viol, Josh finds himself a sought after soloist, chamber artist, and teacher, traveling all across the world to places he could have barely imagined growing up. Called “a tour-de-force” by Vancouver Classical, Josh has performed with Musica Pacifica, Les Délices, Four Nations Ensemble, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Portland Baroque Orchestra, Seattle Symphony, TENET, Pacific Music Works, American Bach Soloists, Orchester Wiener Akademie, Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra, and the Boston Early Music Festival. His performances have been broadcast on Performance Today, FluxFM (Germany), Harmonia, Österreichischen Rundfunk (Austria), LoveFM (Japan), and RAI (Italy). “A master of the score’s wandering and acrobatic itinerary” (Cleveland Plain Dealer), Josh just released his seventh studio album, UNACCOMPANIED VOL. 3: DIDACTIKA, in November of 2023.
These days Josh finds himself pulled in evermore creative directions, composing, arranging, and delving into electronic music, mainly due the influence of singer-songwriter and producer, Ben Cooper. Ben brought Josh aboard his ongoing project Radical Face in 2012 to help write, arrange and perform string parts, resulting in their work’s use in film, TV, and advertising campaigns around the world.
Josh lives in San Francisco, California.