Jinsang Lee, a pianist who made history as the first Asian to win the Geza Anda International Piano Competition in Zurich in 2009, also became the first to sweep all the special awards in the competition, including the Schumann Prize, Mozart Prize, and Audience Prize. He previously won the 2005 Cologne International Piano Competition and the 2008 Hong Kong International Piano Competition.
Lee has performed with world-class orchestras, including the Nuremberg Symphony Orchestra, Bamberg Symphony, Bern Symphony Orchestra, Berlin Konzerthaus Orchestra, Vienna Chamber Orchestra, Shanghai Philharmonic Orchestra, Sendai Philharmonic Orchestra, Zurich Tonhalle Orchestra, and the WDR Symphony Orchestra. In Korea, he regularly collaborates with major orchestras such as the KBS Symphony Orchestra, Korean National Symphony Orchestra, Bucheon Philharmonic Orchestra, Gyeonggi Philharmonic Orchestra, Busan Philharmonic Orchestra, Incheon Philharmonic Orchestra, Gwangju Symphony Orchestra, Ulsan Philharmonic Orchestra, and Suwon Philharmonic Orchestra.
He has been invited to perform at prestigious international music festivals, including the SAC Orchestra Festival, Ruhr Piano Festival, Lucerne Festival, Menuhin Festival, Montreux Festival, Busoni Festival, Ernen Festival, Cervo Festival, and the Hong Kong Joy of Music Festival. His performances have graced iconic venues such as the Berlin Philharmonie, Berlin Konzerthaus, Vienna Konzerthaus, Zurich Tonhalle, Lucerne KKL, Nuremberg Meistersingerhalle, and the Louvre Museum in Paris.
His discography includes a live recording from the 2009 Geza Anda Competition, 2011 ‘Hiller-Mendelssohn-Chopin’ piano pieces recorded on both antique and modern Steinway Pianos, 2015 album of Schumann’s sonatas, and 2017 album as a member of the Beethoven Trio Bonn, featuring works by Georgy Sviridov. In 2020, he released a complete album of Beethoven’s piano trios to commemorate the 250th anniversary of Beethoven’s birth.
A graduate of the Korea National University of Arts, Jinsang Lee continued his advanced studies at the Cologne University of Music and the Salzburg Mozarteum. He further honed his skills studying piano techniques with technician Stefan Knüpfer at Steinway Austria. His passion for perfect sound led him to work at the Steinway Hamburg factory, where he directly engaged in the piano-making process.
In 2023, he was selected as an “In-House Artist” at the Lotte Concert Hall, where he introduced an innovative performance of ‘Liszt/Berlioz’s Symphonie Fantastique’, incorporating media art, dance, and percussion, and showcasing the diversity of classical music to a wider audience. Since 2015, Lee has been a pianist with the ‘Beethoven Trio Bonn’ and has been serving as a professor at the Korea National University of Arts since 2018.