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Dr. Sanghie Lee is an internationally recognized concert pianist and prizewinner whose performances have been praised for their poetic depth, luminous tone, and technical brilliance. She is a prizewinner of numerous international competitions, including the Bronze Medal at the 2019 NTD International Piano Competition and First Prize at the 2015 Liszt–Garrison International Piano Competition, where she also received the Special Award for Best Interpretation of an American Composer’s Work. Additional honors include Second Prize at the Los Angeles International Liszt Competition for her performance of Liszt’s Piano Concerto No. 1, as well as invitations to the Alaska e-Piano Competition and the Beethoven International Piano Competition in Bonn, Germany.

Dr. Lee’s artistry has also been recognized through numerous top prizes in piano competitions in South Korea. As a concerto soloist, she has appeared with the University of Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra in Liszt’s Piano Concerto No. 1, the University of North Georgia Sinfonietta in Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 17, and the Yonsei University Symphony Orchestra in Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 3.

Her international performance career has taken her to major cities throughout the United States and South Korea, including Seoul, Daejeon, Daegu, Cincinnati, Kalamazoo, Bloomington, New York, San Francisco, and Boston. Dr. Lee has performed at venues including Harvard University’s Memorial Church and Carnegie Hall as part of a multi-city recital tour. Her performances have been described as “breathtaking, combining both technical and musical mastery of the highest level.”

An avid chamber musician and collaborative pianist, Dr. Lee has performed in more than fifty chamber recitals since 2013, collaborating with distinguished instrumentalists and vocalists in the United States and Korea. Her chamber-music career includes her work with Piano Trio Canorus, based in Cincinnati, which received First Prize at the 2016 CCM Chamber Music Competition and Second Prize at both the 2015 and 2017 OSTA Chamber Music Competitions. Her piano duo also received the Grand Prize at the Korea Piano Duo Association Competition. Her continuing work as a collaborative pianist encompasses chamber music, instrumental and vocal repertoire, concerto preparation, recitals, juries, and other university and professional performances.

In addition to her performing career, Dr. Lee is a dedicated university educator. She serves on the piano faculty and as a collaborative pianist at the University of North Georgia (Â鶹ÊÓƵ), where her teaching spans applied piano, collaborative piano, class piano, advanced keyboard musicianship, aural skills, and music theory. Through this broad range of instruction, she works with students across performance, keyboard, musicianship, and academic areas of the music curriculum.

At Â鶹ÊÓƵ, Dr. Lee presents the faculty recital series A Little Night Hawk Music, featuring thematic programs that explore a wide range of solo piano repertoire. Past programs have included In Joy and Sorrow, Fall in Love with 20th Century Piano Works, Between Calmness and Passion in 19th Century Piano Works, and It’s a Love Story: Schumann. Her programming reflects a particular interest in connecting repertoire through historical, stylistic, and expressive themes.

Dr. Lee’s students have earned recognition at national and international competitions and have gone on to pursue advanced study with scholarships. Recent honors include awards from the American Protégé International Competition, New York Classical Debut Awards, Maurice Ravel Piano Competition, Chopin Avenue International Piano Competition, and the Georgia Music Teachers Association Concerto Competition. Several of her students have also earned performance opportunities at Carnegie Hall. Additional student distinctions include recognition from the Franklin Pond Chamber Music Competition, Vivo International Music Competition, Southeast Young Artist Competition, and other GMTA competitions.

Dr. Lee has appeared as a guest artist at numerous universities, including Washington State University, the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Vanderbilt University, Charleston Southern University, Claflin University, the University of the Cumberlands, Clemson University, and Shorter University, among others. She has also appeared as a featured guest artist at the International Euphonium Tuba Festival at Emory University.

Born in Seoul, South Korea, Dr. Lee began piano studies at age five and won her first competition at age eight. She attended Yewon School and Seoul Arts High School before earning both Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Piano Performance from Yonsei University. She later earned a Performer Diploma from Indiana University’s Jacobs School of Music, where she studied with Emile Naoumoff, and both the Doctor of Musical Arts and Artist Diploma from the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, where she studied with James Tocco, Eugene Pridonoff, and Elisabeth Pridonoff.

Her doctoral dissertation, Rachmaninoff’s Early Piano Works and the Traces of Chopin’s Influence, examines stylistic connections between Chopin and Rachmaninoff’s early piano compositions. As a performer, educator, and collaborative musician, Dr. Lee remains committed to bringing together artistic excellence, thoughtful teaching, and meaningful musical collaboration.