Cellist Seonhwa Lee was born in Daejeon, South Korea. She started her musical training in piano and cello at the age of four and began receiving vocal lessons at six. At the age of seven, she won first prize as a cellist in her first competition in South Korea, and at nine, she won first prize at a singing competition in her hometown. She made her debut as a soloist with Haydn's C Major Concerto in her hometown at the age of eleven.

Seonhwa has been awarded many prizes at international competitions in South Korea, Poland, Denmark, and the USA, and has given numerous concerts, including at Carnegie Hall in New York. Seonhwa has won scholarships from the Deutschlandstipendium and the Müller Foundation in Germany.

Seonhwa achieved top marks in both the entrance and graduation of her Bachelor’s degree at the Mannheim University of Music under Professor Michael Flaksman. She then studied her Master's degree under the guidance of Professor Danjulo Ishizaka at the Dresden University of Music and successfully graduated from the Basel  University of Music with a Master of Arts in Performance and a Master of Arts in Music Pedagogy. Additionally, she completed the Konzertexamen under Professor Francis Gouton at the Mannheim University of Music.

Currently, Seonhwa is pursuing a Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) at Freiburg University of Music.