Frances Lee

Staff Pianist

Academic Program Affiliation(s): Bard Conservatory of Music: Preparatory Division

Biography:

A native of Singapore, Frances Lee began playing the piano at the age of three and made her first public appearance at the age of six. After several years of studying at the School of Young Talents of the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts, she left Singapore for The Purcell School for Young Musicians, a specialist music school in England, where she studied with Rustem Hayroudinoff. She then attended the Bard College Conservatory of
Music in the piano studio of Peter Serkin, and graduated as a straight-A student with a BMus in Piano and a BA in German Studies. In conjunction with her Senior Project in German Studies, Ms. Lee gave a lecture-recital on Fanny Mendelssohn-Hensel’s piano cycle Das Jahr. She has previously studied with Melvin Chen and Lala Isakova. She was a recipient of the Stephen and Belinda Kaye Scholarship during her time at Bard, and was
awarded the Bard Conservatory Prize. She is currently pursuing her MMus in Piano Performance at The Shepherd School of Music, Rice University in the studio of Brian Connelly, as a recipient of the Abigail Diane Dalton Williams Endowed Scholarship.

Ms. Lee has performed widely in Singapore and overseas, in countries including the United States, Thailand, Slovenia, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom. She was a member of the Bard College Conservatory Orchestra on their tour of Europe in 2014, performing in the Czech Republic, Germany, Hungary, Poland, Russia, Slovakia, and Vienna. She made her concerto debut with the Bard College Conservatory Orchestra in 2011 under the direction of Leon Botstein. She participated and performed in the World Piano Pedagogy Conference in 2003, the EPTA (European Piano Teachers Association)
UK Conference in 2005, the Young Artists Program at Yellow Barn in Vermont in 2011, The International Holland Music Sessions in Bergen, North Holland in 2012, and the Young Artist Chamber Music Program at Kneisel Hall in Maine in 2014. She has performed as a soloist in London at Steinway Hall and the Southbank Centre’s Purcell Room. Ms. Lee has also participated in piano masterclasses given by Dmitri Alexeev, Philippe Bianconi, Melvin Chen, Jeremy Denk, Christopher Elton, Richard Goode, Vivian Hornik Weilerstein, Ivari Ilja, John Perry, Carole Presland, Matti Raekallio, Mark Ray, Aaron Shorr, Steven Spooner, and Arbo Valdma. An active chamber musician, she has also played in masterclasses given by Ida Kavafian, Nicholas Mann, Arnold Steinhardt, and Donald Weilerstein.

Ms. Lee obtained her DipABRSM (Diploma of The Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music) at the age of 11 and received a Distinction for her LRSM (Licentiate of the Royal Schools of Music) at the age of 13. She was a prizewinner at The Stravinsky Awards 2012 Bach Piano Competition, and was also a finalist in the Bard College
Conservatory of Music Concerto Competition in 2010, 2011, and 2013.

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