It's a good thing then that demand for his skills keeps him away from his new home. He will be in Hong Kong next Thursday for a recital at City Hall. The concert is the first stop of his China tour, which also takes in Beijing and Shanghai. The Hong Kong-born cellist will also be promoting his new recording Schumann-Mendelssohn-Chopin, released last week.

His sophomore outing comes a year after his self-titled debut, which was rush-released after he landed the prestigious 2004 Antonio Janigro prize, beating 97 cellists from 43 countries. He was the first Chinese to win the competition and caught the ear of talent scouts at EMI Classics.

'They approached us and said 'let's try a first album and if it's successful we'll continue',' says the 33-year-old.

That debut sold well so Lee retreated to a concert hall at Queen's College in Flushing, New York, for three days in January with engineer Da-Hong Seetoo and pianist Noreen Cassidy-Polera to record the follow-up.

The first album was a fun collection in a wide range of styles, including Brahms and Mendelssohn and Finnish tangos, Spanish pieces and Lee's energetic take on Flight of the Bumblebee. This time Lee wanted a serious, concert-like recording.

That only ramped up the tension during the 12-hour sessions as everyone knew they were recording for posterity, Lee says.

'We were playing, listening, playing, listening. At the end we just let our hair down and were screaming at each other. No formalities really, because you just have to be honest and say: 'That sounded bad, why are you doing this',' Lee says.

In Hong Kong, Lee - accompanied by Cassidy-Polera - will play two selections from the new disc: Schumann's Five Stucke im Volkston, Op102 and Chopin's Introduction and Polonaise Brillante. He'll also perform Tartini's Variations on a Theme by Corelli, a Brahms sonata and a Hungarian rhapsody by Popper.

Lee says the Chopin piece is special to him because he played it at his first concert in Hong Kong, in a trio with his two sisters when he was 15.

But concerts aren't the only events on the bill. Lee is also planning some meet-and-greet sessions for aspiring young musicians, and a series of master classes. Often, in both Hong Kong and on the mainland, young music students are pushed to learn an instrument without learning to appreciate the artistry, and Lee wants to change that. 'What I often see in China is that they study the technical aspects really well, they're obsessed with playing perfectly,' he says.

'But for me that's not the point of music and that's also not my approach. I want to have the opportunity to play a lot there or do master classes or have sessions talking to students and showing them that music is not about that at all. I just hope they don't become technically perfect robots with their instruments.'

Lee and his two sisters were pushed to learn music at a young age by their mother, a graduate of the Beijing Central Music Conservatory. He began piano lessons at three, and took up the violin a year later. By the age of nine, he took up the cello and his family moved to New York, where he was enrolled at the Stuyvesant school, renowned for its math and science programmes, and then the Juilliard School in New York.

He loathed Julliard, where music seemed to be a chore, rather than a joy. He moved to Harvard where he pursued economics to take a break from music. After graduating, he worked in Boston as a financial consultant, but after a year realised the cello was his true calling.

Since then, he has risen quickly. Until recently, he was winning one international competition a year. He also studied with Swedish teacher Franz Helmerson and completed a Konzert Examen music degree in Germany. But now he's concentrating on performing solo or in small groups and developing as an artist, which explains his move to Amsterdam.

He chose to live in the Dutch city because it's easy for foreigners, a good travel hub and a cultural centre providing rich musical stimulation.

However, his hectic schedule won't give him a chance to appreciate the city. Later this year, he will join a group of musicians touring Spain to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the death of poet and dramatist Federico Garcia Lorca.

Lee sees his position with the philharmonic as 'an excuse for me to live in Amsterdam. I'm not really a regular member - I still don't know anyone's name because I'm not there that much'.

Trey Lee recital, May 4, 8pm, City Hall Concert Hall, Edinburgh Place, Central. $100, $180, $250 Urbtix. Inquiries: 2734 9009