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Sunday, August 23 2026, 7:30 PM

CHOPIN MARATHON!!

Yejin Lee
Min Young Park
Chengcheng Yao
Hyo Ju Lee
(piano)

In Frédéric Chopin’s words:

“It is dreadful when something weighs on your mind, not to have a soul to unburden yourself to. You know what I mean. I tell my piano the things I used to tell you.”

“Bach is an astronomer, discovering the most marvellous stars. Beethoven challenges the universe. I only try to express the soul and the heart of man.”

“I wish I could throw off the thoughts which poison my happiness, and yet I take a kind of pleasure in indulging them.”

“Simplicity is the final achievement. After one has played a vast quantity of notes and more notes, it is simplicity that emerges as the crowning reward of art.”

Franz Liszt described Chopin’s music as a “divine tongue” capable of expressing profound sentiments.

Oscar Wilde noted that playing Chopin feels like “weeping over sins that I had never committed”.

Eugene Delacroix referred to him as an “incomparable genius whom the heavens envied the Earth”.

George Sand described his creative process as “spontaneous, miraculous”.

Program

Fantasy-Impromptu
in c sharp minor, Op. posth. 66

Performed by Yejin Lee

Ballade No. 1 in G minor, Op. 23

Performed by Min Young Park

Études 

Op. 25 No. 1 in A-flat major,
“Aeolian Harp”

Op. 10 No. 5 in G-flat major,  “Black Key”

Op. 10 No. 12 in C minor,  “Revolutionary”

Performed by Hyo Ju Lee

Mazurkas, Op. 33

Performed by Chengcheng Yao

Nocturnes, Op. 27

No. 1 in C-sharp minor
No. 2 in D-flat major

Performed by Yejin Lee

Preludes, Op. 28

Nos. 1, 8, 15, 17, 24

Performed by Min Young Park

About the Artists

Yejin Lee

Dr. Yejin Lee is an active soloist and chamber musician based in the United States. She has been invited to perform in many prestigious venues, including her solo debut at Weill Recital Hall of Carnegie Hall in New York, the Cultural Art Center in Jaen, Spain, the Tyler Recital Hall in Florida, and the Seoul Arts Center in Seoul, Korea. Her performances have also been featured and broadcast live on WCLV 104.9 FM from the Cleveland Play House. She has appeared as a soloist with the Korean Symphony Orchestra, Virginia Chamber Orchestra and with the Accord Symphony Orchestra. She continues to perform actively with chamber ensembles, including the Piano Duo Luminare and Les Amorces Trio.

Yejin has claimed awards at prestigious competitions, including the Dallas International Piano Competition, Kingsville International Piano Competition, and Wideman International Piano Competition. She has also performed at leading music festivals and masterclasses at the Mozarteum Academy in Salzburg, the Banff Music Festival, the Gijon Music Festival in Spain, and PianoTexas International Academy & Festival.

Yejin graduated with honors from the Oberlin Conservatory, earning degrees in both piano performance and vocal accompanying under Haewon Song and Philip Highfill. She later completed her master’s and doctorate degrees under Boris Slutsky at the Peabody Institute of the Johns Hopkins University. She continues to receive invaluable mentorship from Lambert Orkis, further cultivating her artistry.

She currently serves as a professorial lecturer at George Washington University, and staff pianist at Shenandoah University Conservatory. She also has served as a piano faculty at the Washington Conservatory of Music. In addition to her academic roles, Yejin maintains a private teaching studio and is dedicated to music education as a member of MTNA and NVMTA.

Yejin is also the founder and artistic director of Matinee-M, a house concert series in McLean, VA as she is committed to bringing classical music into the community through intimate and engaging performances.

Min Young Park

Pianist Min Young Park has garnered international recognition for her artistry. She won First Prize at the Chopin National Competition in Korea and the Asia Chopin International Competition in Japan. After winning the Harrison L. Winter Concerto Competition, she made her Baltimore debut with the Peabody Symphony Orchestra under Leon Fleisher. In Korea, she has appeared as a soloist with the Prime Philharmonic and the SNU Symphony Orchestra. Her performances have taken her to major venues including Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall, Kumho Art Hall and the Seoul Arts Center in Korea, Salle Marius Ecole in France, and the Royal Irish Academy of Music.

An avid chamber musician, she is a member of the Baltimore Chamber Players and Piano Duo Luminare and has appeared at festivals such as Music@Menlo, Taos, and Bowdoin. She graduated summa cum laude from Seoul National University, earned her master’s degree from The Juilliard School, and received her DMA from the Peabody Conservatory under Yong Hi Moon. She currently serves on the faculty of the Keyboard Studies Department at the Peabody Conservatory and teaches piano and musicianship at the Peabody Preparatory. In Summer 2026, she joins the faculty of Piano at Peabody and the Youth Piano Academy at the Peabody Preparatory.

Hyo Ju Lee

Hyo Ju Lee, a distinguished pianist from South Korea, is renowned for her dynamic performances as both a soloist and chamber musician across the United States and South Korea. Her professional debut featured a concert with the Seoul Symphony Orchestra, where she performed Grieg’s Piano Concerto in A minor at the age of thirteen. Since then, she has delivered numerous performances, including the Kumho Young Artist Concert Series at Kumho Art Hall in South Korea, as well as at Mozart Hall, Williams Hall, Jordan Hall, and Friedberg Hall.

Dr. Lee has a deep passion for chamber music and has performed in a variety of chamber ensembles. Her performances include a Saxophone Trio Concert at the Academy Art Museum in Maryland, a Duo Concert with cello at Leith Symington Griswold Hall and the Enoch Pratt Library, and both Piano Trio Concert and Piano Duo Concerts at Mozart Hall.

Dr. Lee has achieved significant recognition in various prestigious piano competitions. She secured top honors at the Schumann Honors Piano Competition at the New England Conservatory, the Jacob Flier International Piano Competition, and was featured in Winner Concerts in Boston and New Paltz. Additionally, she has won the Junior Chopin Piano Competition in South Korea, the Sukmyung University Music Competition, and the Music Journal Piano Competition.

Her academic credentials include a Bachelor of Music degree from Seoul National University, where she studied under Soo-Jung Shin and Jong-Hwa Park. She earned a Master of Music and a Graduate Diploma from the New England Conservatory with Alexander Korsantia, and a Doctor of Musical Arts degree from the Peabody Institute of The Johns Hopkins University, where she studied with Yong Hi Moon. Dr. Lee has served as a faculty member at the International School of Music and Peabody Preparatory, and currently maintains a private piano studio. In 2024, she joined the Music School at Bryn Mawr School.

ChengCheng Yao 

Praised by Marin Alsop as an “amazing young pianist,” Chengcheng Yao is rapidly emerging as one of the most creative and expressive artists of her generation. She has appeared as soloist with the Peabody Symphony Orchestra, the Chautauqua Music School Festival Orchestra, the Xiamen Philharmonic Orchestra, and the Hebei Symphony Orchestra. Her engagements have taken her to leading venues including New York City’s Alice Tully Hall, Hamburg’s Laeiszhalle, Salzburg’s Mozarteum, Beijing’s National Center for the Performing Arts, and the University of Toronto. A dedicated chamber musician and educator, Yao teaches at the Washington Conservatory of Music and coaches chamber music at Johns Hopkins University. She holds degrees from the China Conservatory of Music, The Juilliard School, Yale School of Music, and the Peabody Institute.

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