Sinae Lee

South Korean-born pianist Sinae Lee enjoys a distinguished international career as a soloist, chamber musician and educator. Currently a Lecturer in Piano at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland (RCS) in Glasgow, she has established a reputation for artistic excellence, insightful musicianship and a deep commitment to both performance and teaching.

Since her UK concerto debut with the Royal Scottish National Orchestra, performing Brahms’ Piano Concerto No. 1, Sinae has appeared as soloist with the Korean Symphony Orchestra, St James Orchestra, Glasgow Orchestral Society, and the orchestras and wind ensembles of the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland. Her performances have taken her to major musical centres including New York, St Petersburg, Riga, London, Edinburgh and Glasgow, as well as throughout her native South Korea.

Sinae received her early musical training at Yewon School and Seoul Arts High School before graduating with distinction from Seoul National University. During her studies in Korea, she won numerous prestigious competitions, including the Chung-Ang Daily Newspaper Competition and the Korean Music Association Competition for Overseas Competitors. Following her success in Korea, she was awarded a full scholarship from the Inches Carr Trust to study at the then Royal Scottish Academy of Music & Drama (now the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland), where she completed her Master of Music degree with distinction.

Her exceptional talent was further recognised through a series of major awards, including second prize in the London Intercollegiate Beethoven Competition and numerous prizes at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, among them the A. Ramsay Calder Debussy Prize, Bach Prize, Governors’ Recital Prize, Concerto Competition Prize, Ian D. Watt Award, and the Dunbar-Gerber Prize. Sinae studied piano with Hwa-Young Yi, Hyoung-Joon Chang, and Philip Jenkins.

A highly acclaimed recording artist, Sinae gained international recognition with her landmark recording of Karol Szymanowski’s Complete Works for Piano, released as a four-CD set by Divine Art in 2006. The project represented the first complete recording of the composer’s piano works, including the posthumously published Prelude in C-sharp minor. The recordings received outstanding critical acclaim from Gramophone, BBC Music Magazine, Pianist Magazine, MusicWeb International, AllMusic Guide and Res Musica, earning distinctions such as “Recommended Recording”, “Benchmark Recording” and “Recording of the Month”. Selections from the set have been broadcast internationally on BBC Radio 3, Radio New Zealand and KBS Television.

To mark the tenth anniversary of the Szymanowski recording, Sinae undertook a series of celebratory recitals in Glasgow, Dublin and Seoul, presenting programmes dedicated to the composer. She has also been recognised for her interpretation of Franz Liszt’s music, performing the complete Années de Pèlerinage in the United Kingdom and South Korea during the composer’s bicentenary year. Her subsequent recording for Nimbus Alliance was praised by The Classical Reviewer (Best of 2012) and MusicWeb International (Recording of the Month, April 2014).

Beyond her solo career, Sinae is an enthusiastic chamber musician and collaborator. She has performed alongside internationally renowned artists including violinist Ilya Gringolts and double bassist Knut Erik Sundquist, and regularly collaborates with colleagues at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland. She is also widely respected for championing contemporary music, having premiered numerous works by composers such as Marek Pasieczny, Gordon McPherson, Rory Boyle, Vera Stanojevic and Jay Capperauld. In 2016, she recorded Capperauld’s Swan Lake for a BBC Arts documentary and continues to perform as pianist with the Glasgow New Music Expedition (GNME) led by Jessica Cottis.

Equally respected as an adjudicator, Sinae has served on the juries of many leading national and international competitions, including the BBC Young Musician, Eurovision Young Musicians, Olga Kern International Piano Competition, Karol Szymanowski International Music Competition, Scottish International Youth Piano Competition, Yamaha Music Foundation of Europe Scholarships, and numerous awards at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland.

Recent Release: Bowen Piano Works

Sinae Lee’s most recent recording project celebrates the richly expressive and virtuoso piano music of the British composer York Bowen, often described as “the English Rachmaninov”. Through her characteristic combination of technical brilliance, musical insight and stylistic understanding, Sinae brings renewed attention to Bowen’s distinctive voice and the lyrical richness of his piano writing.

The recording reflects her ongoing commitment to exploring repertoire beyond the mainstream canon and highlights her affinity for large-scale Romantic piano works. The release has been praised for its depth of interpretation, colouristic imagination and compelling advocacy for Bowen’s music, further strengthening Sinae’s reputation as an artist dedicated to uncovering and championing overlooked masterpieces.

Through her concert performances, recordings and teaching, Sinae Lee continues to inspire audiences and students alike, combining scholarly insight with expressive artistry and an unwavering passion for the piano.