Huijae (Esther) Lee is a South Korean pianist from Cheongju and has won numerous competitions in Korea including the Young Soloists Competition, the Min Classical Music Competition in 2018, Second Prize at the 22nd Korean Chamber Orchestra Competition in 2021, and received an Honorable Mention in the Krannert Debut Artist Competition in 2022. Furthermore, Lee was named the Illinois State MTNA Young Artist Piano Performance Competition winner and also selected as an alternate for the MTNA East Central Division Competition. Additionally, she has been named the Krannert Debut Artist for 2023 and received an Honorable Mention in the University of Illinois Symphony Orchestra Concerto Competition. Most recently, she won the Twenty-Third 21st Piano Commission Competition and First Prize in Korean New York Daily Times Symphony Orchestra Competition both in 2023. As a winner of the last two competitions, her upcoming performances include concerts at the Krannert Center in Urbana, Carnegie Hall, and Lincoln Center Plaza, both in New York City.
She is actively performing as a soloist and an accompanist through various solo recitals, chamber recitals, and private concerts in the US and South Korea. Moreover, her outstanding academic achievements include graduating as valedictorian and winning the Academic Award from Chungbuk Arts High School, graduating Cum Laude from Hanyang University in Seoul, and receiving the Graduate Tuition Award from Indiana University in Bloomington where she did her MM.
Ms. Lee is currently pursuing a Doctor of Musical Arts degree with Dr. Rochelle Sennet at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign where she has been a recipient of the Ross Fellowship and State Fellowship from Fall 2021 and holds a piano lesson instructor position for the Illinois Community Music Academy. In addition, she takes regular masterclasses from Dr. Ian Hobson since 2021 and studied piano pedagogy as her cognate under Dr. Christos Tsitsaros. She has also played in masterclasses with numerous musicians such as Artina McCain, Awadagin Pratt, Chong-Pil Im, and Jae-hyuck Cho, among many others. Her previous teachers include Dr. Dai Uk Lee, Prof. Edward Auer, Dr. Saekyung Park, Prof. Sunghee Huh, and Prof. Yonsoo Rhee.
You can find Huijae’s 2023 World Music Competition piano performance here.