Jinsang Lee (; born 14 September 1981) is a South Korean classical pianist and a professor at

Korea National University of Arts Korea National University of Arts is a national university in Seoul, South Korea. Korea National University of Arts was established in 1993 by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism of Korea as the only national university of arts with an a ...

. He came to international recognition by winning the

Concours Géza Anda The Concours Géza Anda is a triennial international piano competition in Zürich, Switzerland. It was founded in memory of Hungarian pianist A pianist ( , ) is an individual musician who plays the piano. Since most forms of Western music can ...

in Zurich in 2009 where he also became the first participant in the history of the competition winning all special prizes; the Audience Prize, the Mozart Prize and the

Schumann Robert Schumann (; 8 June 181029 July 1856) was a German composer, pianist, and influential music critic. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest composers of the Romantic era. Schumann left the study of law, intending to pursue a career a ...

Prize.

Early life

Born in

Seoul Seoul (; ; ), officially known as the Seoul Special City, is the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea.Before 1972, Seoul was the ''de jure'' capital of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) as stated iArticle 103 of ...

, Lee began piano playing at the age of 7, and started his musical education at

with Professor Daejin Kim at the age of 12. During his early life in Korea, he won top prizes at various piano competitions in Korea. After graduating in 2003, he journeyed to Europe to pursue further studies: from 2003 to 2006 at the

Hochschule für Musik Nürnberg The Hochschule für Musik Nürnberg (formerly ''Hochschule für Musik Nürnberg-Augsburg'') is a music conservatoire based in Nuremberg, Bavaria, Germany. The conservatoire has a secondary building in Augsburg. The Hochschule The Hochschule für ...

as a pupil of Professors Wolfgang Manz and Julia Goldstein, and at the

Hochschule für Musik und Tanz Köln The Cologne University of Music ( is a music college in Cologne, Germany. Founded in 1850, it is Europe's largest academy of music. History The academy was founded by Ferdinand Hiller in 1850 as ''Conservatorium der Musik in Coeln''. In 1895 Ger ...

and Universität Mozarteum in Salzburg under the guidance of Professor

Pavel Gililov Pavel Lvovich Gililov (russian: Павел Львович Гилилов; born 23 June 1950) is a Russian classical pianist who has held German citizenship since 2003. Life Born in Donezk, Gililov's musical talent was discovered by the Russi ...

Career

Jinsang Lee has performed concerts with conductors such as

Vladimir Ashkenazy Vladimir Davidovich Ashkenazy (russian: Влади́мир Дави́дович Ашкена́зи, ''Vladimir Davidovich Ashkenazi''; born 6 July 1937) is an internationally recognized solo pianist, chamber music performer, and conductor. He ...

Michael Boder Michael Boder (born 9 November 1958) is a German conductor of opera and concert who works internationally. The chief conductor of the Royal Danish Theatre, he has conducted regularly at the Vienna State Opera, including the premieres of Cerha's ' ...

Christopher Warren-Green Christopher Warren-Green (born 30 July 1955) is a British violinist and conductor. He was born in Gloucestershire and attended Westminster City School, where he was a chorister, and later the Royal Academy of Music. Warren-Green has served a ...

David Effron David Effron is an American conductor and educator. After earning a Bachelor of Music degree in piano from the University of Michigan and a Master of Music degree in piano from Indiana University, he worked as an assistant to Wolfgang Sawallisch ...

Heiko Mathias Förster Heiko Mathias Förster (born 1966, Crivitz, East Germany) is a German conductor. Most notable for conducting the Munich Symphony Orchestra from 1999 to 2006, since 2014, he has been the chief conductor of the Ostrava-based Janáček Philharmonic ...

, Peter Gülke,

Theodor Guschlbauer Theodor Guschlbauer (born 1939 in Vienna) is an Austrian conductor. Decorations and awards * 1995: Austrian Cross of Honour for Science and Art, 1st class * 1996: Honour "Victoire" for his work on the ''Opéra du Rhin'' and at the Strasbourg Phi ...

Heinz Holliger Heinz Robert Holliger (born 21 May 1939) is a Swiss virtuoso oboist, composer and conductor. Celebrated for his versatility and technique, Holliger is among the most prominent oboists of his generation. His repertoire includes Baroque and Classic ...

, Eivind Gullberg-Jensen,

Michail Jurowski Michail Vladimirovich Jurowski (; 25 December 1945 – 19 March 2022) was a Russian conductor who worked internationally, based in Germany for most of his career. He was particularly interested in the works of Dmitri Shostakovich, in concerts a ...

, Roman Kofman,

Jonathan Nott Jonathan Nott (born 25 December 1962, in Solihull, England) is an English conductor. Biography The son of a priest at Worcester Cathedral, Nott was a music student and choral scholar at St John's College, Cambridge, and also studied singing a ...

, Ola Rudner,

Muhai Tang Muhai Tang (; born 1949 in Shanghai) is a Chinese conductor. He is the youngest son of celebrated Chinese film director Tang Xiaodan and brother of painter and poet Tang Muli. Tang initially learned music with his parents, and later studied ...

, Umeda Toshiaki, Mario Venzago,

and

Nikolaj Znaider Nikolaj Szeps-Znaider (born 5 July 1975 in Copenhagen, Denmark) is a Danish violinist and conductor. Biography Szeps-Znaider was born in Copenhagen to Polish-Jewish parents. His father had originally emigrated from Poland to Israel, and his mot ...

. He has performed with orchestras, such as the

Konzerthausorchester Berlin The Konzerthausorchester Berlin is a German symphony orchestra based in Berlin. The orchestra is resident at the Konzerthaus Berlin, designed by the architect Karl Friedrich Schinkel. The building was destroyed during World War II, and was rebui ...

Bamberg Symphony Orchestra The Bamberg Symphony (German: Bamberger Symphoniker – Bayerische Staatsphilharmonie) is a German orchestra based in Bamberg. It is one of the most prestigious orchestras in Germany. The orchestra was formed in 1946 mainly from German musicians ...

, Neue Philharmonie Westfalen, Nuremberg Symphony Orchestra,

Orchestra della Svizzera Italiana The Orchestra della Svizzera Italiana (OSI; literal translation, Orchestra of Italian Switzerland) is a Swiss orchestra based in Lugano. The orchestra's primary concert venue is the ''Auditorio RSI''. The OSI also gives a concert series at the ...

Sendai Philharmonic Orchestra is the capital city of Miyagi Prefecture, the largest city in the Tōhoku region. , the city had a population of 1,091,407 in 525,828 households, and is one of Japan's 20 designated cities. The city was founded in 1600 by the ''daimyō'' Date M ...

Shanghai Philharmonic Orchestra The Shanghai Philharmonic Orchestra (SPO; Chinese: 上海爱乐乐团; pinyin: Shànghǎi Àiyuè Yuètuán) is a professional symphony orchestra based in Shanghai, China. It is under the administration of the Shanghai Municipal Administration of C ...

, Tonhalle Orchester Zurich,

WDR Symphony Orchestra Cologne The WDR Symphony Orchestra Cologne (German: WDR Sinfonieorchester Köln) is a German radio orchestra based in Cologne, where the orchestra mainly performs at two concert halls: the WDR Funkhaus Wallrafplatz and the Kölner Philharmonie. Histo ...

Vienna Chamber Orchestra The Vienna Chamber Orchestra (Wiener Kammer Orchester, or WKO) is an Austrian chamber orchestra based at the Vienna Konzerthaus. History The WKO was founded in 1946, and its first artistic directors were Franz Litschauer, Heinrich Hollreiser, ...

and

Zurich Chamber Orchestra The Zurich Chamber Orchestra (Zürcher Kammerorchester; ZKO, German abbreviation) is a Swiss chamber orchestra based in Zurich. The ZKO's principal concert venue in Zurich is the Tonhalle. The ZKO also performs in Zurich at the Schauspielhaus Zü ...

. He has performed at international music festivals including Busoni Festival,

International Chamber Music Festival of Cervo The International Chamber Music Festival of Cervo was inaugurated in 1964, the brainchild of the renowned Hungarian violinist Sandor Vegh. It is held every July and August in the picturesque church square of Cervo, a small, ancient town in Lig ...

, Musikdorf Ernen,

Lucerne Festival Lucerne Festival is one of the leading international festivals in the world of classical music and presents a series of classical music festivals based in Lucerne, Switzerland. Founded in 1938 by Ernest Ansermet and Walter Schulthess, it curren ...

, Menuhin Festival, Menton Festival,

Montreux Festival The Montreux Jazz Festival (formerly Festival de Jazz Montreux and Festival International de Jazz Montreux) is a music festival in Switzerland, held annually in early July in Montreux on the Lake Geneva shoreline. It is the second-largest annual ...

, Piano Festival Ruhr, Seoul Arts Center Orchestra Festival, Hong Kong Joy of Music Festival and Wuhan International Piano Festival. Numerous invitations led him on the international concert stages, e.g.

Konzerthaus Berlin The Konzerthaus Berlin is a concert hall in Berlin, the home of the Konzerthausorchester Berlin. Situated on the Gendarmenmarkt square in the central Mitte district of the city, it was originally built as a theater. It initially operated from ...

Louvre Museum The Louvre ( ), or the Louvre Museum ( ), is the world's most-visited museum, and an historic landmark in Paris, France. It is the home of some of the best-known works of art, including the ''Mona Lisa'' and the ''Venus de Milo''. A central l ...

, KKL Lucerne, Meistersingerhalle Nuremberg, Tonhalle Zurich and Konzerthaus Vienna. A chamber musician, he is a member of the piano trio Beethoven Trio Bonn with violinist Mikhail Ovrutsky and cellist Grigory Alumyan and performs in various chamber music concerts.

International awards

* 2001: 2nd Prize, Audience Prize,

Sendai International Music Competition The Sendai International Music Competition is a triennial violin and piano music competition held in Sendai, Japan, presented in association with the Sendai International Music Competition Organizing Committee, City of Sendai and the Sendai Cul ...

* 2005: 1st Prize, Scarlatti Prize and Orchestra Prize, International Pianoforte Competition Cologne * 2008: 1st Prize,

Hong Kong International Piano Competition The Hong Kong International Piano Competition was first held in 2005. It is organized by the Chopin Society of Hong Kong. Its Honorary President, Vladimir Ashkenazy, serving as the jury's chairman. The Hong Kong International Piano Competition is ...

* 2009: 1st Prize, Audience Prize,

Prize, Mozart Prize,

Discography

* 2009: Live recording from the

2009 * 2011: Hiller-Mendelssohn-Chopin Making Music Among Friends, recorded with both antique and modern Steinway pianos, The Alpha Omega Sound * 2015: Schumann: Piano Sonatas for the Young, Op. 118 / 5 Gesänge der Frühe,

Naxos Naxos (; el, Νάξος, ) is a Greek island and the largest of the Cyclades. It was the centre of archaic Cycladic culture. The island is famous as a source of emery, a rock rich in corundum, which until modern times was one of the best ab ...

* 2017: Georgy Sviridov, recorded with the Beethoven Trio Bonn, Avi-Service for Music

Other career

Piano technique and manufacturing

In addition to his concert career, Jinsang worked for Steinway Austria and Steinway Hamburg to learn piano techniques and the manufacturing process. He worked at

Steinway Steinway & Sons, also known as Steinway (), is a German-American piano company, founded in 1853 in Manhattan by German piano builder Heinrich Engelhard Steinweg (later known as Henry E. Steinway). The company's growth led to the opening of a ...

Austria for 2 years under the guidance of piano technician Stefan Knüpfer (featured in the docu-movie " Pianomania") while conducting his concert career at the same time. Subsequently, he moved to

Hamburg to learn the piano manufacturing process to better understand the mechanism that makes the delicate sound of the piano.

Writing

In 2015-2016, Jinsang has written monthly columns titled "Pianomania!" for Korean music magazine "The Piano" about his insights on piano techniques through the eyes of a concert pianist. Since 2018, he has been writing monthly columns for the

Seoul Shinmun ''The Seoul Shinmun'' (translating to The Seoul Newspaper) is the oldest daily newspaper in South Korea with more than a century of publication. Its original name was ''Daehan Maeil Sinbo'' (''The Korea Daily News''), which was started on July 1 ...

newspaper in Korea.

References

External links

Jinsang Lee Official website

Beethoven Trio Bonn Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lee, Jinsang 1981 births Living people People from Seoul South Korean classical pianists South Korean expatriates in Germany Hochschule für Musik und Tanz Köln alumni 21st-century classical pianists