Faculty Awards 2021: Soyeon Kate Lee

Assoc. Professor of Music in Piano honored with Mrs. AB Dolly Cohen Award for Excellence in Teaching

Soyeon Kate Lee, DMA, has won top prizes at some of the most prestigious piano competitions in the world, including first prize at the Naumburg International Piano Competition and at the Concert Artist Guild International Competition. Now as an Associate Professor of Piano at UC’s College-Conservatory of Music, she is focused on preparing the next generation of award-winning pianists.

Soyeon Kate Lee | Photo/Lisa Maria Mazzucco

“She truly puts her life into providing the best for her students and each of their individual needs,” says Gavin Davis, an undergraduate student studying piano performance. “I came from an unlikely background and Professor Lee has shown me only kindness, patience and commitment to guiding me to become the best pianist that I can be.”

Recipient of UC’s Mrs. AB Dolly Cohen Award for Excellence in Teaching, Lee has gone above and beyond to foster her students’ development and wellbeing. At the start of the pandemic when students did not have access to CCM practice room pianos, Lee and her husband, Professor Ran Dank, secured piano donations and helped get them delivered to students so they could practice safely at their homes.

“Professor Lee has been essential to my growth as a musician, and equally important as a human," says Scott Sherman, a DMA student studying piano performance. “Her consistent thoughtfulness, trust, and tireless dedication to our student-teacher relationship and my growth as a musician is something that I would never exchange for anything. Above that, her service to the creation of music itself will always remain an incredible source of inspiration for me to go out into the world and effect the same change that she has shared with me.”

Lee connecting with her piano students through Zoom.

She meets each of her 16 students weekly for private lessons, in addition to a group studio class where they discuss their performances, give feedback and talk about topics related to being a musician. She has students in Asia as well as the U.S., so remote learning and time differences have caused her Zoom teaching schedule to begin at 7 a.m. and end at 11:30 p.m. on some days.

Lee considers it her responsibility to teach students how to perform at their best and also to understand the importance of entrepreneurship, communication, fundraising and mental health. In this regard, she has re-envisioned CCM’s piano master class course and expanded the guest lecturers to include world renowned pianists like Emanuel Ax and Richard Goode, executive directors of major international piano competitions, CCM alumni and mental health counselors. “I am very excited about continuing to expand this course to make it more relevant to the artistic landscape that will meet today’s graduates,” Lee says.

During the pandemic, Lee developed the COVID Etude Project for her students so they can stay motivated and feel connected to one another. The project features three complete sets of challenging piano etudes by Claude Debussy, Franz Liszt and William Bolcom. The performances were broadcast on the CCM website and YouTube channel March 26-28, 2021; they are available to watch on demand.

“Seeing our students take up this challenge with so much energy, professionalism and positive spirit has been so gratifying to see and definitely has been one of the highlights for me at CCM,” Lee says. “Teaching has served as a tonic and a solace in the midst of these unprecedented times, and I am grateful to be among the educators and mentors at UC, in which we all strive to make a positive impact on a daily basis.”