Jinsang Lee

Jinsang Lee (Hangul: 이진상; born 1981) is a South Korean classical pianist.

Born in Seoul, Lee began his education at Korea National University of Arts, where he attended the classes of Professor Daejin Kim. He graduated in 2003. Subsequently he journeyed to Europe to pursue further studies: from 2003 to 2006 at the Hochschule für Musik Nürnberg as a pupil of Professors Wolfgang Manz and Julia Goldstein, and at the Hochschule für Musik und Tanz Köln and Universität Mozarteum in Salzburg under guidance of Professor Pavel Gililov.

Jinsang had earlier made his mark in the international piano world by winning top prizes at a number of international piano competitions including First Prize at the Hong Kong International Piano Competition (2008) chaired by Vladimir Ashkenazy; First Prize, Scarlatti Prize and Orchestra Prize at the International Pianoforte Competition Cologne (2005); and Second Prize at the Sendai International Music Competition (2001) followed by a number of top prizes in Korea earlier. In Zurich he not only walked off with the winner's prize at the Concours Géza Anda 2009, but the Audience Prize as well, in addition to winning the Mozart Prize and the Schumann Prize for the best interpretation of his work.

Jinsang Lee has performed concerts with renowned conductors, such as Vladimir Ashkenazy, Christopher Warren-Green, Peter Gülke, Heinz Holliger, Eivind Gullberg-Jensen, Michail Jurowski, Roman Kofman, Ola Rudner and Muhai Tang. He has performed with famous orchestras, e.g. the Konzerthausorchester Berlin, the Nuremberg Symphony Orchestra, the Sendai Philharmonic Orchestra, the Shanghai Philharmonic Orchestra, the Tonhalle Orchester Zurich, the WDR Symphony Orchestra Cologne and the Vienna Chamber Orchestra. His concert activity has taken him to various countries, including Germany, Switzerland, Austria, England, France, Italy, Russia, as well as North and South America and Asia. He presents at the several festivals, such as Busoni Festival (Italy), International Chamber Music Festival of Cervo (Italy), Lucerne Festival (Switzerland), Menuhin Festival (Switzerland), Montreux Festival (Switzerland), Piano Festival Ruhr (Germany) his impressive, profound music world. Numerous invitations led him on the international concert stage, e.g. Konzerthaus Berlin, Louvre Museum, Kultur- und Kongresszentrum Luzern, Meistersingerhalle Nuremberg, Tonhalle Zurich and Konzerthaus Vienna.

Jinsang's special passion in searching for the perfect sound has led him to the world of piano manufacturing and tuning. He embarked upon this interesting journey by working at Steinway Austria for 2 years under the guidance of master piano technician Stefan Knüpfer (star of the docu-movie "Pianomania") while conducting his concert career at the same time. Subsequently, he moved to Steinway Hamburg to learn the piano manufacturing process himself to better understand the mechanism that makes the delicate sound of the piano. Jinsang has sought to take part in every step of creating the perfect piano sound, from selecting and processing the right wood to auditioning the final completed piano, and playing with the very piano that he chose for the audience.

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