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In 2005, 25-year-old Colleen Lee won sixth prize in the 15th International Frederic Chopin Piano Competition in Warsaw, Poland, and became the first Hong Kong pianist to reach the final round of this prestigious competition.
Lee will give a recital at 8pm on Thursday (June 11) at the Concert Hall, Hong Kong City Hall.
The programme includes Bach's Partita No.6 in E minor, BWV 830; Haydn's Piano Sonata in C, Hob. XVI:50; Ginastera's Piano Sonata No. 1, Op. 22 and Chopin's 24 Preludes, Op. 28.
Lee began learning the piano at the age of four. She trained at the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts from 1987 under the tutelage of Ms Eleanor Wong. After graduating from the academy in 2001 with first class honours, she was awarded a scholarship in 2003 to study at the Hochschule fur Musik and Theater Hannover, where she was in the class of Professor Arie Vardi.
Lee has won many accolades in international piano competitions, including first prize at the 7th Hamamatsu International Piano Academy Competition in 2002, another first prize at the 3rd Seiler International Piano Competition in Kitzingen, Germany, in 2003, and the 2003 Dorothy Mackenzie Artist Recognition Award. More recent awards include the Pro Musicis International Award Winner for 2005; Third Place and Critic's Prize and Audience's Prize at the 15th International Competition for Piano and Orchestra in Cantu, Italy, in May 2005; and Sixth Prize of the Hong Kong International Piano Competition.
A frequent performer in Hong Kong and abroad, Lee has participated in numerous international music events, including the Carinthia Festival in Austria, the Prades Festival Pablo Casals in France, Miedzynarodowy Festiwal Chopinowski, Duszniki Zdroj in Poland, the Assisi International Piano Festival in Italy, and the Meissen Pianoforte Festival in Germany. She made her Carnegie Hall debut at the Weill Recital Hall in October, 2003, as part of the Dorothy MacKenzie Award. She has also performed in Bangkok, Jakarta, Poland and London.
As a soloist, Lee has performed with the BBC National Orchestra of Wales, the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, the Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra, the Queensland Philharmonic Orchestra, Shanghai Symphony Orchestra, Bangkok Symphony Orchestra, Academy Symphony Orchestra, The Hong Kong Sinfonietta and the Cebu Youth Symphony Orchestra. She has also made studio recordings for Young Music Makers, a programme of Radio Television Hong Kong.
Piano Recital by Colleen Lee is presented by the Leisure and Cultural Services Department. Tickets priced at $100, $180 and $250 are now available at URBTIX outlets, while senior citizens, people with disabilities, full-time students and Comprehensive Social Security Assistance recipients may have 50% off (limited quotas for CSSA recipients on a first-come, first-served basis). A 10% discount applies to Friends of LCSD performing venues.
For enquiries about the programmes, call 2268 7321 or visit www.lcsd.gov.hk/cp. Ticketing enquiries and reservations can be made on 2734 9009 and credit card telephone bookings on 2111 5999. Tickets can also be booked online at www.urbtix.hk.
Ends/Friday, May 12, 2006
Issued at HKT 10:48
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