Colleen Lee Ka-ling (; born 11 October 1980) is a

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delta i ...

pianist A pianist ( , ) is an individual musician who plays the piano. Since most forms of Western music can make use of the piano, pianists have a wide repertoire and a wide variety of styles to choose from, among them traditional classical music, ja ...

who won the 6th place prize in the

XV International Chopin Piano Competition The XV International Chopin Piano Competition ( pl, XV Międzynarodowy Konkurs Pianistyczny im. Fryderyka Chopina) was held from 2 to 24 October 2005 in Warsaw, organized by the . The competition was won by Rafał Blechacz of Poland, who prevai ...

in 2005.

Biography

Lee began piano lessons when she was four, and started studying with Miss Eleanor Wong upon admission to the

Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts The Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts (HKAPA) (Chinese: 香港演藝學院) is a provider of tertiary education in Hong Kong. Located near the north coast of Wan Chai on Hong Kong Island, the main campus also functions as a venue for pe ...

two years later. She graduated valedictorian in 2001 (Bachelor’s) and again in 2003 (Professional Diploma), and has since been working with

Arie Vardi Arie Vardi ( he, אריה ורדי; born 1937) is a classical pianist, conductor, and piano pedagogue. He is laureate of the Israel Prize in 2017. Biography Vardi was born in Tel Aviv and graduated from the Rubin Academy (renamed the Buchmann-Me ...

at the Hochschule in

Hannover Hanover (; german: Hannover ; nds, Hannober) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Lower Saxony. Its 535,932 (2021) inhabitants make it the 13th-largest city in Germany as well as the fourth-largest city in Northern Germany ...

, Germany. She has given recitals extensively on nearly every continent, in venues from Carnegie Hall in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

to Chopin's Manor in

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...

, and has collaborated with many major orchestras, performing works from

Bach Johann Sebastian Bach (28 July 1750) was a German composer and musician of the late Baroque period. He is known for his orchestral music such as the ''Brandenburg Concertos''; instrumental compositions such as the Cello Suites; keyboard wor ...

to world premieres of Tjeknavorian and others. She was a guest artist at festivals in Austria ( Carinthia), France (Prades “ Casals”), Germany ( Meissen,

Goslar Goslar (; Eastphalian: ''Goslär'') is a historic town in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is the administrative centre of the district of Goslar and located on the northwestern slopes of the Harz mountain range. The Old Town of Goslar and the Mines ...

), Italy ( Assisi), Holland (Holland Music Sessions) and Poland (Antonin, Chopin Duszniki Zdroj), and has been heard on radio in Hong Kong, Poland, Germany, Italy, Scotland and the United States. She is considered as a leading pianist in Hong Kong and has performed in the New Masters on Tour Series in

Concertgebouw The Royal Concertgebouw ( nl, Koninklijk Concertgebouw, ) is a concert hall in Amsterdam, Netherlands. The Dutch term "concertgebouw" translates into English as "concert building". Its superb acoustics place it among the finest concert halls in ...

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the capital and most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population of 907,976 within the city proper, 1,558,755 in the urban ar ...

, and

The Hague The Hague ( ; nl, Den Haag or ) is a city and municipality of the Netherlands, situated on the west coast facing the North Sea. The Hague is the country's administrative centre and its seat of government, and while the official capital o ...

; as well as in

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th ...

and

Tel-Aviv Tel Aviv-Yafo ( he, תֵּל־אָבִיב-יָפוֹ, translit=Tēl-ʾĀvīv-Yāfō ; ar, تَلّ أَبِيب – يَافَا, translit=Tall ʾAbīb-Yāfā, links=no), often referred to as just Tel Aviv, is the most populous city in the ...

(with the

Israel Philharmonic The Israel Philharmonic Orchestra (abbreviation IPO; Hebrew: התזמורת הפילהרמונית הישראלית, ''ha-Tizmoret ha-Filharmonit ha-Yisra'elit'') is an Israeli symphony orchestra based in Tel Aviv. Its principal concert venue ...

) among other prestigious venues, for the upcoming season. In 2005, she received 6th prize in the

, and in 2006 she received 6th prize in the Gina Bachauer International Piano Competition. She has also been awarded the Commendation from the

Home Affairs Bureau The Home and Youth Affairs Bureau () is one of the policy bureaux of the Hong Kong Government. One of the important roles of the Home and Youth Affairs Bureau is to enhance liaison and communication with all sectors of the community inclu ...

in 2004 and the Commendation for Community Service by the Chief Executive in 2006, in recognition of her outstanding achievements in music.

Others

She has recorded regularly for

RTHK Radio Television Hong Kong (RTHK) is the public broadcasting service in Hong Kong. GOW, the predecessor to RTHK, was established in 1928 as the first broadcasting service in Hong Kong. As a government department under the Commerce and Econo ...

Radio 4 for both recitals and chamber series. Also, she was one of the artists presented in the acclaimed Outstanding Young Chinese Musicians Series (2006), and was also one of the ten outstanding Hong Kong musicians featured in the CD and programme "Gifted" presented by RTHK 4 to celebrate the 10th years of the Establishment of the Hong Kong SAR. Her début CD, an all Chopin album, recorded in Warsaw with the Pleyel Piano was issued by the

Fryderyk Chopin Institute The Fryderyk Chopin Institute ( pl, Narodowy Instytut Fryderyka Chopina) is a Polish organization dedicated to researching and promoting the life and works of Poles, Polish composer Frédéric Chopin. It was created in 2001 as the result of legi ...

in 2006. In February 2008, she has recorded her second CD, including various Scarlatti Sonatas. Lee also was the laureate of the

Paloma O'Shea International Piano Competition The Paloma O'Shea Santander International Piano Competition (in Spanish: Concurso Internacional de Piano de Santander "Paloma O'Shea") is a piano competition taking place in Santander, Spain. Founded in 1972 by Paloma O'Shea as a national prize, ...

Santander Santander may refer to: Places * Santander, Spain, a port city and capital of the autonomous community of Cantabria, Spain * Santander Department, a department of Colombia * Santander State, former state of Colombia * Santander de Quilichao, a m ...

Cantabria Cantabria (, also , , Cantabrian: ) is an autonomous community in northern Spain with Santander as its capital city. It is called a ''comunidad histórica'', a historic community, in its current Statute of Autonomy. It is bordered on the east ...

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lee, Colleen 1980 births Hong Kong pianists Living people Prize-winners of the International Chopin Piano Competition Prize-winners of the Gina Bachauer International Piano Competition Women classical pianists