Pianist Hyuk Lee won the first prize at the prestigious Long-Thibaud International Piano Competition in Paris, in November 2022 with his brilliant interpretation of Prokofiev Piano Concerto Nº2 Op.16.
Born in 2000 in Seoul, Korea.
In May 2023, he graduated from the École Normale de Musique de Paris with Prix Cortot as the best graduate-pianist of the year.
A pianist, whose repertoire includes more than 40 Piano concertos and countless solo programs was initiated into the world of music at the age of 3 by learning to play the piano and the violin simultaneously.
At 14, he moved to Moscow, where he studied at the Tchaikovsky Conservatory with Prof. Vladimir Ovchinnikov, whom he worked with widely in various directions of the classical piano repertoire for pursuing his development as a musician.
Also Since 2013, he has been working with Prof. Stefan Arnold from the University of Music and Performing Arts, Vienna to expand his repertoire in German and Viennese classical music.
In 2016 at 16, as the youngest participant in history, he won the 10th International Paderewski Piano Competition in Bydgoszcz, Poland. He is also a laureate of the 3rd prize at the 10th International Hamamatsu Piano Competition (2018).
Furthermore, Fryderyk Chopin has always been the composer to whom Hyuk Lee has a deep adoration.
He is a laureate of the 1st prize and the prize for the best concerto at the International Chopin Competition in Moscow for young pianists (2012).
He also became a finalist in the 18th Chopin International Piano Competition in Warsaw in October 2021. Later in the same year, the pianist became the laureate of the Grand Prix in the 17th Animato Competition — Chopin Edition, in Paris, France, after which he has received a full scholarship for continuing his study at École Normale de Musique de Paris.
Hyuk Lee has performed at various prestigious concert venues in the world, such as Warsaw Philharmonic, Théâtre du Châtelet, Rudolfinum, Smetana Hall, Great hall of the Moscow Tchaikovsky Conservatory, Kraków Philharmonic, Łódź Rubinstein Philharmonic, Eindhoven Muziekgebouw, TivoliVredenburg, Kioi Hall, Salle Cortot, Seoul Arts Center, Lotte Concert Hall. He played with orchestras such as Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra, Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra, Prague Radio Symphony Orchestra, Tokyo Symphony Orchestra, National Philharmonic Orchestra of Ukraine, L’Orchestre de la Garde républicaine, Sinfonietta Cracovia, etc.
His 2023 summer includes appearances at various festivals in numerous cities in France, Poland, such as Le Concert de Paris at the Champs-de-Mars for 350,000 spectators on the 14 July “Bastille Day”, Nohant Chopin Festival, Senlis Cziffra Festival, Concert in Aix-en-Provence, Les Nuits du Piano d’Erbalunga, Festival Les Pianos Folies du Touquet-Paris-Plage, Musique en Côte de Nacre, Duszniki-Zdrój Chopin Festival, Łazienki Park Open-Air Chopin Concert.
As a Chamber musician, Hyuk plays 2 pianos duo concerts with his younger brother, Hyo Lee. In the season 2022/2023 Lee brothers’ performances were held in different concert halls and included Symphonic Dances Op.45 by Rachmaninov, Fantasy on the opera “Porgy and Bess” (Gershwin/Grainger), Saint-Saëns’ Carnival of the Animals, Danzón Nº 2 by Márquez in their repertoire.
Hyuk Lee also has a great passion for Violin and Chess. he continues studying Violin constantly, and apart from his concert schedule, he takes part in international chess tournaments and holds an International FIDE rating.
