About

Charlotte Lee is the President and Founder of Primo Artists, one of the world's leading international artist management agencies. She is recognized as an industry veteran with over 25 years of leadership experience in artist management, entrepreneurship, advocacy, speaking and media.

Based in New York, Primo Artists has an esteemed management roster comprising violinists Itzhak Perlman, Joshua Bell, Nicola Benedetti and Randall Goosby; pianist Beatrice Rana; conductors Cristian Măcelaru, James Gaffigan, Christian Reif and Gemma New; and composers Valerie Coleman, Wynton Marsalis and Joel Thompson.

Considered the most modern agency in the field, Primo Artists is an industry trailblazer offering a holistic approach to artist representation. Beyond its distinguished artist management roster, the agency represents a robust roster of Public Relations and Social Media clients including Lincoln Center, London Philharmonic Orchestra, American Composers Orchestra, Sphinx Organization and many composers, instrumentalists, vocalists, ensembles and organizations. Primo Artists is the only agency in the arts field that offers artist management, social media and PR services to artists and institutions around the world.

An active advocate, Lee is also the founder and leader of PAMAC, Performing Arts Managers and Agents Coalition. She was a principal in leading the industry-wide lobbying effort that led to the enactment of the Shuttered Venue Operators Grants program, providing $16.5 Billion in relief to the arts and culture industry. PAMAC is the only network of 250+ U.S. artist managers, booking agents and independent producers in the performing arts industry. Lee created the coalition in May 2020 to advocate for U.S. legislative reform in a quest to secure relief for all segments of the industry in the wake of COVID's devastating impact on the arts and culture sector.

Lee's passion for music originated from the age of 4, when she picked up her first violin. By age 17, she had performed at Carnegie Hall's Stern Auditorium as concertmaster of the New Jersey Youth Symphony and in recital at Carnegie's Weill Recital Hall. She holds two bachelor's degrees from the University of Texas at Austin, where she graduated cum laude in May 1998 with a B.A. in Music and a B.A. in Plan II Liberal Arts.

After graduating, Lee moved to New York City where she began her career in the music business at PolyGram Classics & Jazz, later known as Universal Music Group. In September 1998, at the introduction of the impresario Charles Hamlen, Lee met the legendary Edna Landau and Elizabeth Sobol of IMG Artists and joined IMG NY where she would eventually be mentored by these highly respected industry leaders. From the start, Lee had the honor of working as part of the exclusive management teams for luminaries such as pianists Lang Lang and Evgeny Kissin, violinists Joshua Bell and Hilary Hahn, and conductors Franz Welser-Möst and Ivan Fischer.

Lee quickly gained the trust of these renowned artists and was promoted in 2001 to become IMG Artists' youngest manager at age 24. In 2007, she was appointed the agency's youngest vice president at age 30. Her roster of artists who she personally managed grew, and she eventually took on the general management of Itzhak Perlman, amongst other internationally recognized artists.

In January 2015, Lee founded Primo Artists with the mission of establishing it as one of the leading artist management agencies in the world.

Musical America have twice named Lee a “Top 30 Professional of the Year”: In the 2015 Inaugural Edition recognizing influencers in the classical music business and in the 2021 Edition applauding heroes of the industry who saved the day during the pandemic. Auditorium Magazine of South Korea featured her in 2020 as one of “14 Top CEOs of Artist Management Agencies” shaping the arts industry today. Lee received the 2022 Western Arts Alliance Service Award in recognition of her advocacy, contributions and leadership on the Shuttered Venues Operators Grant.

In addition to her advocacy work, Charlotte serves on various Boards including the Advisory Council of Boston University Tanglewood Institute (BUTI) and the Board of Directors of the International Artist Managers' Association (IAMA). She has adjudicated competitions such as the Sphinx Competition, Vendome Prize, Orford Music Award, Ima Hogg Competition and the Parkening International Guitar Competition. Lee regularly speaks at conferences including SphinxConnect, APAP and the League of American Orchestras and has lectured at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, Oberlin College and HEC Montréal.