TWENTY-THIRD ANNUAL

21st CENTURY PIANO COMMISSION

Concert

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Jung Hyun Lee, composer

Esther (Huijae) Lee, piano

Foellinger Great Hall

Krannert Center for Performing Arts

Saturday, February 3, 2024

7:30 PM

Program Notes

JUNG HYUN LEE

Emille

Instrumentation:

Piano, fixed media, and live electronics

My inspiration for this piece comes from a Korean national treasure, the Sacred Bell of King Seongdeok (성덕대왕신종), the largest bell in Korea, which is known more widely as the “Emille bell” (에밀레종), pronounced “em-ee-leh.” The Emille bell is named as such because its sound, coming from the huge bell’s distinctive spectrum and beating effect among its many partials, resembles a vibrating voice slowly calling “emille...,” which means “mother” in old Korean.

A number of different versions of folktales exist about the bell and its distinct sound, all telling that the sound of the bell is the crying of a child who was sacrificed and cast into the melting bronze in construction of the bell, as supposedly only through the sacrifice of a child could the bell be completed. The appalling story is not based on fact, but its visceral horror show that the deep resonance of the huge bell captivated people at the time with enormous emotional depth and impact.

Isn’t it alluring that a certain combination of tones, a crafted sound, can let people feel emotions, recall memories, and bring them into a different time and space for a moment? The narrative structured by sounds can express something impossible to portray in words. Music moves us in a way distinct from other art forms: sound and music are ephemeral in nature. After the vibrations of the air fade away into nothingness, the stories that it told exist only in our mind. On the one hand, the sound itself will never exist again. But the memories that it leaves behind and the stories that follow can remain eternally.

Emille portrays not the existing stories made based on the bell, but rather the idea of narrativity itself that lives inside the sound. How far can our imagination go with the sound of just one strike of the bell? Could I weave a crafted sonic story from the layers of emotions embedded in a single sound object? The piece started from these questions. As well as being an inspiration, the recording of the bell is used as a primary sonic material throughout the piece, processed with various ways with electronics.

A huge thank to my amazing pianist, Esther Lee, who went through this journey together with me, putting her heart into the project so that my piece could breathe and come to life beautifully. To the composition- theory department - all the professors and my colleagues - who have supported, taught and influenced me through this pivotal stage of my artistic career. Lastly, to my partner, Victor Zheng, for developing the live electronics for the piece with intelligent, thoughtful understanding to my vision and the endless moral and emotional support for me to finish the piece.

Born in Seoul, South Korea, Jung Hyun Lee is a composer currently residing in the US. Her musical interest lies in the audience’s perception of the “space” altered by the manipulation of resonance, silence, spatialization, and diffusion of sound through forming delicately structured sonic illusions that stimulate senses to awaken uniquely in response to the temporal art.

Lee was recently named winner of the twenty-third annual 21st Century Piano Commission Competition at the University of Illinois. Her works have featured internationally at events and conferences including SEAMUS, NYCEMF, ROCC, CHIMEFest at University of Chicago, Chosun Ilbo National Debut Concert in Seoul, South Korea, Sound Spaces in Malmö, Sweden, and the highSCORE Festival in Pavia, Italy. She also has performances upcoming at Electronic Music Midwest and Napoleon Electronic Media Festival at Eastern Illinois University.

Lee has attended masterclasses led by Kaija Saariaho and John Harbison. She is a doctoral candidate in Composition-Theory at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, where she also earned her Master of Music. She earned a Bachelor of Music in composition with honors from Yonsei University in Seoul, South Korea.

Esther (Huijae) Lee, pianist

Esther (Huijae) Lee is a South Korean pianist from Cheongju who has achieved success in numerous competitions in Korea, including winning the Young Soloists Competition and the Min Classical Music Competition in 2018 and clinching the Second Prize at the 22nd Korean Chamber Orchestra Competition in 2021. In 2022, she earned an Honorable Mention in the Krannert Debut Artist Competition and won the Illinois State MTNA Young Artist Piano Performance Competition.

In 2023, Lee’s accomplishments continued as she was named an alternate for the MTNA East Central Division Competition, was awarded the title of Krannert Debut Artist, and received an Honorable Mention in the University of Illinois Symphony Orchestra Concerto Competition. Additionally, she triumphed in the Twenty-Third Annual 21st Piano Commission Competition, the Charleston World Music Competition, and the Korean New York Daily Times Symphony Orchestra Competition in the same year. As the first prize winner of the latter, she is scheduled to give performances at Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center in June 2024.

Actively performing as both a soloist and an accompanist, Lee has participated in various solo recitals, chamber recitals, and private concerts in the US and South Korea. Her outstanding academic achievements include graduating as valedictorian and winning the Academic Award from Chungbuk Arts High School. She also graduated Cum Laude from Hanyang University in Seoul and received the Graduate Tuition Award from Indiana University in Bloomington, where she completed her Master of Music.

Currently pursuing a Doctor of Musical Arts degree with Dr. Rochelle Sennet at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Lee has been a recipient of the Ross Fellowship since Fall 2021 and has been holding a piano faculty position at the Illinois Community Music Academy since 2022. She has participated in regular masterclasses with Dr. Ian Hobson since 2021 and studied piano pedagogy as her cognate under Dr. Christos Tsitsaros.

Additionally, she has played in masterclasses with renowned musicians such as Frederic Chiu, Artina McCain, Awadagin Pratt, Chong-Pil Im, and Jae-hyuck Cho, among many others. Her previous teachers include Prof. Dai Uk Lee, Prof. Edward Auer, Prof. Saekyung Park, Prof. Sunghee Huh, and Prof. Yonsoo Rhee.

School of Music Administration

Linda R. Moorhouse, Director

Gayle Magee, Associate Director and Director of Faculty/Staff Development

Reynold Tharp, Director of Graduate Studies

Megan Eagan-Jones, Director of Undergraduate Studies

David Allen, Director of Advancement

Thereza Lituma, Interim Director of Admissions

Terri Daniels, Director of Public Engagement

School of Music Faculty

Composition-Theory

Armando Bayolo

Carlos Carrillo

Eli Fieldsteel

Kerry Hagan

Lamont Holden

Stephen Taylor

Reynold Tharp

Alex Zhang

Conducting

Barrington Coleman

Ollie Watts Davis

Kimberly Fleming

Kevin M. Geraldi

Barry L. Houser

Linda R. Moorhouse

Hannah Rudy

Andrea Solya

Carolyn Watson

Jazz

Ronald Bridgewater

Barrington Coleman

Larry Gray

Pat Harbison

Joan Hickey

Charles “Chip” McNeill

Jim Pugh

Joel Spencer

John “Chip” Stephens

Keyboard

Timothy Ehlen

Julie Gunn

Joan Hickey

Ieng Ieng Kevina Lam

Charlotte Mattax Moersch

Casey Robards

Dana Robinson

Rochelle Sennet

John “Chip” Stephens

Michael Tilley

Christos Tsitsaros

Chi-Chen Wu

Lyric Theatre

Julie Gunn

Nathan Gunn

Dawn Harris

Michael Tilley

Sarah Wigley

Music Education

Stephen Fairbanks

Donna Gallo

Adam Kruse

Peter Shungu

Bridget Sweet

Mike Vecchio

Musicology

Christina Bashford

Donna Buchanan

Megan Eagen-Jones

Gayle Magee

Jeffrey Magee

Carlos Ramírez

Michael Silvers

Jonathon Smith

Jeffrey Sposato

Makoto Takao

Nolan Vallier

Strings

Denise Djokic

Liz Freivogel

Megan Freivogel

Rudolf Haken

Salley Koo

Nelson Lee

Daniel McDonough

Kris Saebo

Guido Sánchez-Portuguez

Ann Yeung

Voice

Ollie Watts Davis

Nathan Gunn

Dawn Harris

Ricardo Herrera

Yvonne Redman

Jerold Siena

Sylvia Stone

Woodwinds, Brass and Percussion

Charles Daval

Iura de Rezende

John Dee

Ricardo Flores

Amy Gilreath

Jonathan Keeble

Janice Minor

William Moersch

Debra Richtmeyer

Ben Roidl-Ward

Bernhard Scully

Scott Tegge

Douglas Yeo

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