Ran Dank & Soyeon Kate Lee
Technically dazzling and intellectually probing artistry exemplify Ran Dank's pianism and musicality. In the 2017/2018 season Ran Dank performs Saint-Saens Piano Concerto No. 2 with the Cincinnati Chamber Orchestra, Bartok Piano Concerto No. 3 with the Illinois Symphony Orchestra, Liszt Piano Concerto No. 2 with the Portland Symphony, Beethoven Piano Concerto No. 4 with the Spokane Symphony, and Bernstein's Symphony No. 2, The Age of Anxiety with the Kansas City Symphony for their season finale.
The recipient of numerous honors, Ran Dank won a coveted place on the Young Concert Artists roster in 2009 and subsequently made his New York recital debut sponsored by YCA and the Jerome L.Greene Foundation at Merkin Hall. He was a laureate of the Cleveland International Competition, the Naumburg Piano Competition and the Sydney International Piano Competition and First Prize winner of the Hilton Head International Piano Competition.
He completed Doctoral studies with Ursula Oppens and Richard Goode at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York as a Chancellor's Fellow, and previously received a Bachelor's Degree from the Rubin Academy of Music at Tel Aviv University in his native Israel and a Master's Degree and Artist Diploma from The Juilliard School.
Soyeon Kate Lee has been rapturously received as guest soloist with the Cleveland Orchestra and the London Symphony Orchestra, as well as the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra, San Diego Symphony, symphony orchestras of Columbus, Bangor, Boca Raton, Wyoming, Bozeman, Cheyenne, Napa Valley, Scottsdale, Abilene, Naples, Santa Fe and Shreveport in the United States; the Daejeon Philharmonic Orchestra (South Korea), Ulsan Symphony Orchestra (South Korea), Orquesta de Valencia (Spain) and the Orquesta Sinfónica Nacional (Dominican Republic), including performances under the batons of Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos, Jahja Ling, Jorge Mester and Otto-Werner Mueller.
An active chamber musician, she frequently collaborates in many chamber music festivals throughout the United States including the Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival and Music Mountain, and has been a member of the coveted Lincoln Center Chamber Music Society Two program, where her performance of the Mozart Piano Trio was broadcast on PBS Live from Lincoln Center.
A laureate of the 2003 Cleveland International Piano Competition and the Santander International Piano Competition in Spain, she has worked extensively with Richard Goode, Robert McDonald, Ursula Oppens, and Jerome Lowenthal. A graduate of the Juilliard School, Ms. Lee was awarded every prize given to a pianist at Juilliard, including the William Petschek Piano Debut Award at Lincoln Center and the Arthur Rubinstein Award.
Ran Dank and Soyeon Kate Lee have established a series of concerts, Music by the Glass, held in a New York art gallery, where the audience of young professionals listen, mix and mingle with performing artists who play solo pieces and chamber works accompanied by treats sweet and savory paired with wines. A delightful explanation of these popular events may be viewed on the organization's website www.musicbytheglass.com.
They performed the world premiere of Alexander Goehr's Seven Impromptus for two pianos at the Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival, and their many duo recitals include Portland Ovations, the JCC of Rockville, Bargemusic, Ames Town and Gown Association in Iowa and the Hawaii Concert Association.
Ran and Kate are both Assistant Professors of Piano at the Cincinnati-College Conservatory of Music and reside in Cincinnati with their son, Noah.