Born into a family of musicains, American pianist Melinda Lee has been lauded for her "impeccable technique and artistic interpretation" [The Columbian], garnering her first place in numerous competitions, including the Joanna Hodges International Piano Competition, the Young Keyboard Artist's Association International Competition, the United States Open Music Competition, the National Young Artist's Competition, the Hennessy Cognac Performing Arts Awards, and the Bartok Awards. Since her orchestral debut at age 13 performing the Mendelssohn Piano Concerto No. 1, Melinda has appeared as soloist with the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra, the Midland Symphony, the Fremont Symphony Orchestra, the Contra Costa Chamber Orchestra, the Harvard-Radcliffe Bach Society Orchestra. Melinda has performed live on nationally broadcast radio, including Chicago's Dame Myra Hess Series and San Francisco's Making Waves Series. In 1993, as part of the celebration for Maria Curcio's first official visit to the United States, Melinda was the youngest among twelve international pianists chosen by Madame Curcio to perform in the International Piano Series. Since then, Melinda has given solo recitals in cities throughout the United States, Hong Kong, Germany and Spain. In 1999 Melinda gave her Carnegie Hall debut as a benefit to the youth and Chinese communities of New York City.

An avid chamber musician, Melinda gave recital and chamber music performances at the Ravinia Festival as part of the 1994 Steans Institute for Young Artists. Together with her sisters, Lisa, violinist and Angela, cellist, Melinda is a member of The Lee Trio. Noted by the STRAD for its "gripping immediacy and freshness", The Lee Trio has performed in recitals on both sides of the Atlantic, including London's Wigmore Hall, and in November 2005, completed its first concert tour of Asia, giving chamber recitals and master classes in Hong Kong, Macau and Hangzhou and performances of the Beethoven Triple Concerto with the Shanghai Philharmonic Orchestra, Shenzhen Symphony Orchestra and Macao Youth Symphony Orchestra. The Lee Trio, which won top awards in 2004 in competitions in Italy and Finland, will be touring Germany in spring 2006.

Melinda Lee began studying the piano at the age of five and graduated from the San Francisco Conservatory Pre-College Division in 1995, where she studied with Erna Gulabyan and Mack McCray. As an undergrautate at Harvard University, she continued her piano and chamber music studies with American composer Leon Kirchner and pianists Robert Levin and Anna Kim, as well as with Kurt Stallmann for composition. After graduating with honors from Harvard in June 2000, Melinda lived in New York City and worked with pianists Sergei Edelmann and Jeffrey Swann. Melinda is currently enrolled at the Hannover Hochschule fur Musik und Theater, where she is completing her Konzertexam diploma in piano performance with pianist Einar Steen-Nokleberg.