- country:South Korea
- region:Orient
- style(s):Romantic Period, 20th Century
- label:Odradek Records
- type:Solo
- gender:female
- instrumentation:piano
- artist posted by:Odradek Records
Line up
- Yu Mi Lee (piano)
The language of music is a window into the soul, and my interpretations aim at great devotion to every single work”. This is how I described my approach to performance in a recent interview. I’ve always had to figure out the whole context behind anything I see, listen or learn. While I was stud-ying Western classical music I couldn’t help wondering which cultural and historical backgrounds were behind this music. Why did Bach pioneer the fugue? Why should Chopin’s rubato differ from Liszt’s? Why are dotted rhythms so important in Schumann? Without knowledge of their historical and personal backgrounds, it’s hard to explain these things. So In 2004 I travelled to Vienna, study-ing there for a month; my tutor at the Seoul National University had studied in Vienna and intro-duced me to Professor Noel Flores there. I visited the museums devoted to Haydn, Brahms and Schubert, trying to understand their lives.
Soon, I wanted to see more: the homeland of Bach, Beethoven, Brahms and Schumann. A year later I went to Germany, where I now live. I studied at the world-renowned Musikhochschule Hannover, working with great artists and professors such as Matti Raekallio, Robert Benz, Roberto Plano and Joaquín Soriano. Just a year after my arrival, I celebrated my official debut in Europe with a concert in Prague; many concerts followed.
I now give concerts across Europe, the USA and South Korea. I have performed with the Valencia Philharmonic Orchestra (Palau de la Música de Valencia), Czech Philharmonic (Dvořák Hall, Pra-gue), North Czech Philharmonic Orchestra (Smetana Hall, Prague), at the Berlin International Mu-sic Festival, and at a concert for the Alfred Cortot Association in Italy. I also performed with the Timisoara Philharmonic Orchestra at the Silver Anniversary concert celebrating 25 years of diplo-matic relations between Korea and Romania, and as a young representative of my home country in a gala concert of the Korea Music Association in Germany. What started as an exploration of Western music ended up shaping my career and changing my life.