[citation needed] Lee began his career as a cellist in the Toronto Symphony Youth Orchestra.
[4] He was accepted into the Curtis Institute of Music at the age of 16;[citation needed] he studied cello with Orlando Cole and Peter Wiley.
[5] After graduating from the Curtis Institute of Music in 2005,[citation needed] Earl Lee received his master's degree in cello performance from the Juilliard School, where he studied with David Soyer.
Lee received his master's degree in conducting from the Manhattan School of Music in 2013 under the tutelage of George Manahan.
[11] In 2013, he also received the Ansbacher Fellowship from the American Austrian Foundation[12] and members of the Vienna Philharmonic;[13] this led to him spending six weeks at the Salzburg Festival.