At just 12-years-old Sara Lee moved from South Korea to Russia to follow her dream of being a pianist.
She could not speak or read Russian but she knew it was the place for her, especially when she stepped into the room where virtuoso pianist, composer and conductor Sergei Rachmaninoff (1873-1943) had taught music, and played the same piano he did.
"It was very exciting. It was amazing. One of my favourite composers now I’m touching the piano he used. It was really amazing."
Lee, who studied under Prof Terence Dennis at the University of Otago, is back in Dunedin this week to perform Rachmaninoff’s Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini with the Dunedin Symphony Orchestra conducted by Kenneth Young.
"I feel I can show the audience what is the real Russian feeling from Moscow."
That is the benefit of having studied at the Moscow Tchaikovsky Conservatory for nearly eight years, she says.
Lee’s journey began at age 6 when she told her mother it should be her, not her brother, that learnt the piano. She had heard him play the piano and immediately fell in love with it.
That initial feeling of wanting to be a pianist has never waned.
"It was my first love," she says. "In primary school, other children all changed their dreams, they wanted to be doctors or presidents, but I always wanted to be a pianist and that never changed. I still really love the piano."
It is the piano’s ability to express emotions, language and connect with an audience that attracted her.
"It’s one of my favourite things. Playing the piano I can express everything, I can show my life and what I want to say. I can talk through the music about how the composer was thinking and their composing ideas. There are many secrets in music, all composers put hidden secrets in every piece, discovering what they mean is really interesting for me."
From an early age Lee has loved the Romantic period of classical music, from composers such as Rachmaninoff, Mahler or Chopin, finding their work exciting, dramatic and technical.
"It really fitted me so I asked my parents to study there. They immediately said yes because they are really supportive of me. They really like that I play piano and wanted a better way for me."
As she was only 12, her parents sent her grandmother with her to look after her. At the time, Lee could not speak Russian or English.
"It was a struggle but I learnt the language really fast."
She had many opportunities to play for some of the school’s top piano professors — she became the youngest at 14 and the only non-Russian student invited to attend the class of Sergei Dorensky.
"I learnt a lot from him — music ideas, all the creative things, technical skills. It was like my most happiest moments when I learned from him."
Having had the opportunity to play the same piano as Rachmaninoff still blows her away.
"My professor explained to me how he taught students there, for a long time. That room is very old, the piano really, really old. I couldn’t believe it."
Lee has studied under Prof Yuri Rozum, Mikhail Voskresensky and Mee Hyun Ann. She has also participated in master classes held by Vladimir Ashkenazy and Peter Lang.
Her love of Rachmaninoff and Russian composers continues — "I never get bored, I like the dramatic, the Russian."
Lee came to New Zealand when her parents immigrated, allowing the family to be back together. They settled in Auckland, where Lee went to university to further her music studies.
However, one day she heard Dennis perform and decided to move to Otago so she could be taught by him.
Having graduated from the University of Otago, Lee is now back in Auckland, continuing her work as a pianist and doing some teaching.
"I enjoy teaching. I want to share my knowledge and technical skill. There is lots of knowledge that I learnt in Moscow to pass on."
One of the things Lee most enjoys about being a pianist is talking to the audience after a performance. She says hearing that they heard the composer’s message in her performance is very satisfying.
"I feel I have achieved my purpose."
Before the Covid-19 pandemic, Lee was taking part in three or four piano competitions each year, but travel restrictions put a stop to that.
"I was very sad."
It also meant she could not capitalise on winning the online professional pianist category of the 2021 Prokofiev International Music Competition in St Petersburg, Russia, playing Rachmaninoff and Chopin. She won an opportunity to perform a concert tour in Russia and China and participate in master classes in St Petersburg.
"I chose my favourite composers. I was quite happy."
The win also boosted her performance opportunities as more requests arrive to play here and in Russia.
Now borders are reopening, she hopes to travel to Europe next year to compete in competitions in person, rather than online.
"I’ll still be based in New Zealand."
