School of Music Guest Artist Concert - Bora Lee

Thursday, November 6, 2025 7:30 PM

Ward Hall

Program:

Ludwig van Beethoven – Piano Sonata No. 21 in C major, Op. 53 “Waldstein”

Sergei Rachmaninoff – Étude-tableau in E-flat minor, Op. 39 No. 5

— Intermission —

Sergei Prokofiev – Piano Sonata No. 7 in B-flat major, Op. 83, III. Precipitato

Franz Liszt – Après une lecture du Dante: Fantasia quasi Sonata (Dante Sonata)

“Refining Fire: A Journey of the Soul”

This program traces a powerful spiritual and emotional arc—a soul tested by fire and transformed through sound. From the radiant clarity of Beethoven’s Waldstein Sonata to the turbulent drive of Rachmaninoff’s Etude-Tableau, the relentless urgency of Prokofiev’s Seventh Sonata, and the visionary depths of Liszt’s Dante Sonata, each piece is a passage through inner struggle toward light.

Refining Fire explores the idea that tribulation does not consume but purifies—like fire that tempers gold. In these works, music becomes not only expression but transformation.

 

Bio:

Dr. Bora Lee is a pianist and pedagogue whose career unites performance, teaching, and research across Asia, Europe, and the United States. She began her formal musical studies in Moscow, Russia, after leaving her native South Korea at the age of 14, completing programs at the Gnessin State Musical College and the Gnessin Academy of Music before continuing her education in the United States. She has since performed at internationally recognized venues including Carnegie Hall, Lotte Concert Hall, the Seoul Arts Center, and the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church in Berlin, as well as at major festivals such as Casalmaggiore in Italy and Buchenau in Germany.

Dr. Lee holds a D.M.A. in Piano Performance and Literature with a cognate in Piano Pedagogy, an M.M. in Piano Pedagogy, and an A.D. in Harpsichord from the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign. She also earned an M.M. in Piano Performance from Indiana University and a B.M. in Piano Performance from Oberlin Conservatory.

Her artistic distinctions include top prizes in the Rovero d’Oro International Piano Competition (Italy), the Konzerteum International Piano Competition (Greece), the American Protégé International Concerto Competition (New York), and the Misbin Family Memorial Chamber Music Competition (Washington, D.C.). She has also received numerous scholarships and fellowships, including multiple graduate tuition waivers at the University of Illinois, as well as awards from institutions in both the United States and South Korea.

In addition to her performing career, Dr. Lee has held teaching appointments in South Korea, Germany, and the United States, and most recently directed the Bora Lee Piano Academy in Seoul. She has been an active member of the Music Teachers National Association (MTNA). Her work reflects a commitment to excellence in performance and a research-informed approach to pedagogy, with a particular dedication to mentoring the next generation of pianists.