Colleen Lee Ka-ling (; born 11 October 1980) is a
Hong Kong pianist who won the 6th place prize in the
XV International Chopin Piano Competition 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 two years later. She graduated valedictorian in 2001 (Bachelor’s) and again in 2003 (Professional Diploma), and has since been working with
Arie Vardi at the Hochschule in
Hannover, Germany.
She has given recitals extensively on nearly every continent, in venues from
Carnegie Hall
Carnegie Hall ( ) is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan in New York City. It is at 881 Seventh Avenue (Manhattan), Seventh Avenue, occupying the east side of Seventh Avenue between West 56th Street (Manhattan), 56th and 57th Street (Manhatta ...
in
New York City to
Chopin's Manor in
Poland, and has collaborated with many major orchestras, performing works from
Bach to world premieres of
Tjeknavorian
Loris Haykasi Tjeknavorian ( hy, Լորիս Ճգնավորյան; fa, لوریس چکناواریان; born 13 October 1937) is an Iranian Armenian composer and conductor. He has appeared internationally as a conductor, serving as the principal ...
and others. She was a guest artist at festivals in Austria (
Carinthia
Carinthia (german: Kärnten ; sl, Koroška ) is the southernmost States of Austria, Austrian state, in the Eastern Alps, and is noted for its mountains and lakes. The main language is German language, German. Its regional dialects belong to t ...
), France (Prades “
Casals
Pau Casals i Defilló (Catalan: ; 29 December 187622 October 1973), usually known in English by his Castilian Spanish name Pablo Casals, ”), Germany (
Meissen
Meissen (in German orthography: ''Meißen'', ) is a town of approximately 30,000 about northwest of Dresden on both banks of the Elbe river in the Free State of Saxony, in eastern Germany. Meissen is the home of Meissen porcelain, the Albrecht ...
,
Goslar), Italy (
Assisi
Assisi (, also , ; from la, Asisium) is a town and ''comune'' of Italy in the Province of Perugia in the Umbria region, on the western flank of Monte Subasio.
It is generally regarded as the birthplace of the Latin poet Propertius, born aroun ...
), 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,
Amsterdam, and
The Hague; as well as in
New York City,
San Francisco and
Tel-Aviv (with the
Israel Philharmonic) among other prestigious venues, for the upcoming season.
In 2005, she received 6th prize in the
XV International Chopin Piano Competition, and in 2006 she received 6th prize in the
Gina Bachauer International Piano Competition
The Gina Bachauer International Piano Competition is based in Salt Lake City, Utah and is the second largest piano competition in the United States.
The competition has three age categories: the International Artists Competition for pianists age ...
.
She has also been awarded the Commendation from the
Home Affairs Bureau 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 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 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 in
Santander,
Cantabria,
Spain.
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