Debut Recital
Oct. 17, 1981
Tawes Theater at the University of Maryland
About the Artist
Pianists Dai Uk Lee and Yong Hi Moon are both in demand educators and performers in the United States and Korea. The husband and wife duo still often performs and records four-hand piano repertoire, as they did at Korean Concert Society’s second annual recital in 1981. Dai Uk Lee is currently a professor at Hanyang University in Seoul, and Yong Hi Moon is on the faculty of the Peabody Conservatory of Music.
Dai Uk Lee
Pianist Dai Uk Lee is currently he is a professor at Hanyang University in Seoul. He is active as a performer and conductor and he has performed widely throughout the United States and Far East as a solo pianist and duo-pianist with his wife, pianist Yong Hi Moon.
Born in Seoul, Korea, Dai Uk Lee began piano lessons with his mother at the age of five and made orchestral debut at the age of ten with Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra.
After a successful early career as a pianist in Korea, he moved to the USA to study at the Juilliard School and later, at Peabody Conservatory of Music where he also studied conducting. After winning several competitions in the USA and Europe, he has performed widely throughout the United States and Far East as a solo pianist and duo-pianist (with Yong Hi Moon).
As a conductor, he made his debut at Carnegie Hall and since then, has conducted a number of orchestras in the USA and Korea. In 1991 he organized Korea’s first-ever complete cycle of Mozart piano concertos commemorating the bicentennial anniversary of the Composer’s death. He also performed a cycle of complete Beethoven Piano Sonatas in nine recitals at Michigan State University where he taught for 19 years as a member of piano and conducting faculty. In 1995 he founded and became the music director of the Michigan Chamber Symphony Orchestra. During his tenure with the Michigan Chamber Symphony, some of the most prominent artists appeared with MCSO, including Fou T’song, Sumi Jo and Midori. They performed the complete Brandenburg Concerti by J.S. Bach to commemorate the 250th year composer’s death.
His CD of Czech four-hand piano music (with Yong Hi Moon) received a wide acclaim in this country and Europe.
In recent years in Korea he has conducted Seoul Philharmonic, Kwangju Philharmonic orchestra, Daegu Philharmonic and the Korean Symphony Orchestra and made frequent appearances with Bushoen Philharmonic. In 2003, he was awarded the Fulbright Scholar Grant to teach at Seoul National University.
From 2003 to 2007 he was the music director of Ulsan Philharmonic Orchestra and since 2006 he has served as the artistic director of the Seoul Music Festival and Academy.
Among his notable performances in Korea is conducting Korea’s first performance of 2nd act of Wagner Tristan & Isolde in concert form with Korean Symphony Orchestra.
Recently he has given solo piano recitals at Boston University, University of Florida and University of Kansas. In spring of 2011 he is giving a complete cycle of Beethoven sonatas for piano and violin with violinist Min Kim in Seoul and in the fall, he will be giving a series of recitals with programs devoted to Liszt, commemorating the bicentennial of the composer’s birth.
In November of 2011 he served as the chairman of the jury in the Isang Yun International Piano Competition in Tong Yeong, Korea.
Yong Hi Moon
Accomplished pianist and teacher Yong Hi Moon made her solo debut with the Seoul Philharmonic at age 10 as winner of the National Korean Broadcasting Competition. Ms. Moon has won top prizes in the Elena-Rombro Stepanow Competition in Vienna, the Viotti International Competition in Vercelli, Italy, the Vienna da Motta Competition in Lisbon, Portugal and received the Chopin Prize from the Geneva International Competition in Switzerland.
Ms. Moon performs extensively throughout Asia, Europe and the US as recitalist and soloist, having appeared with the Osaka, Seoul, Tokyo, Philharmonics, and the Korean National Symphony. In 1975, the South Korean government invited Ms. Moon to participate in a festival for the 30th anniversary of the Korean liberation, and she continues to maintain a strong performing and teaching presence in her native country. In 1991, she was invited to participate in a cycle of the complete Mozart piano concerti with the Bu-Chon Philharmonic Orchestra, commemorating the composer’s bicentennial year. In 1997, Ms. Moon performed the complete solo piano works of Schubert in six recitals in both Korea and the US. In the summer of 2000, she made her first extensive concert tour of Korea, including solo recitals in five cities, as well as performances with the orchestras of Kwangju and Daejun.
She collaborates regularly with her husband – pianist/conductor Dai Uk Lee – in duo piano concerts and has performed under his baton with the Busan, Bu-Chon and Ulsan Philarmonics and the Michigan State University Symphony Orchestra. Most recently, they performed Olivier Messiaen’s Visions de l’Amen in both the US and Korea. Their CD recording on the Music and Art label of Czech four-hand piano music has received outstanding critical acclaim.
Ms. Moon is in high demand as a guest master class teacher and adjudicator. In 1993, she released a popular teaching video in Korea entitled Artistic Piano Playing. Ms. Moon has been a regular faculty member at Shandelee, Aria, Prague and Bowdoin Summer Festivals. In addition, she has been invited to perform and conduct master classes at Chautauqua Summer Festival in New York and the International School for Musical Arts in Canada. She has served on the juries of the CCC Toronto International Piano Competition, Senigallia International Piano Competition in Italy, Gilmore International Piano Competition, as well as numerous MTNA competitions throughout the US. Ms. Moon held a full-time faculty position at Michigan State University School of Music for fifteen years, before joining the full-time faculty of Peabody Conservatory of Music in 2002, where she continues to teach.
Ms. Moon studied at the Vienna Academy, graduating with the highest honors. She continued her studies in London before pursuing an Artist Diploma at Indiana University in Bloomington. Her major teachers include Dieter Weber, Maria Curcio, György Sebok, Leon Fleisher, Wilhelm Kempff and Fou T’song, who have always been inspirations in her work.