June 10, 2002 Contact: Tiffany Kuo

Ms. Lee and Mr. Weiss Receive Full-Tuition Scholarships and Open WQXR-FM'S McGraw-Hill Young Artists Showcase Series With a Concert Broadcast Live from Juilliard's Paul Hall and hosted by Robert Sherman On Wednesday, October 16 at 9 PM

Pianists Soyeon Lee and Orion Weiss are winners of the 2002 Gina Bachauer International Piano Competition at Juilliard. The two pianists will open the McGraw-Hill Companies’ Young Artists Showcase series with an hour-long concert on Wednesday, October 16 at 9 PM, broadcast live on radio station WQXR-FM from Juilliard’s Paul Hall. In addition to performing in this live broadcast, the Bachauer competition awards Ms. Lee and Mr. Weiss scholarships to The Juilliard School, which will cover their full tuition and living expenses for the 2002-03 academic year.

The Gina Bachauer Scholarship Fund for gifted pianists was established in 1979 with a bequest from Mrs. Lillian Rogers of New Orleans, a lifelong friend of Mme. Bachauer, who died in 1976. Recent Bachauer winners include William Chen, Ching-Wen Hsiao, Adam Neiman, Ian Parker, Chuan Qin, and Xun Wang.

Born in Seoul, Korea, twenty-two year old pianist Soyeon Lee is a two-time winner of the Gina Bachauer International Piano Competition at The Juilliard School, having also received the prize last year as well. In addition to the Gina Bachauer International Piano Competition, Ms. Lee has been winner of numerous piano competitions that include the Nena Wideman Piano Competition, the Grace Welsh Prize, the Kingsville International Piano Concerto Competition, as well as the concerto competitions at Music Academy of the West and at Juilliard.

An active solo and chamber musician, she has performed in concert halls and venues nationwide including Avery Fisher Hall, Alice Tully Hall, the Montreal Chamber Music Festival, Gilmore International Keyboard Festival, Taos Chamber Music Festival, Interlochen Arts Academy, the Phillips Collection in Washington, D.C., the Trombino Piano Gallerie in Pittsburgh, and in the Van Cliburn and Jessye Norman Tribute Gala Concerts at the University of Michigan. Ms. Lee also has performed with various orchestras, including the Interlochen Arts Academy Orchestra, the Juilliard Orchestra, the Music Academy of the West Orchestra, the Shreveport Symphony in Louisiana, and the West Virginia University Orchestra.

Ms. Lee is a master of music student at Juilliard, where she also received her bachelor of music degree. A student of Jerome Lowenthal during her undergraduate years, and a current student of Robert McDonald, Ms. Lee also has received many other awards at Juilliard including Vladimir Horowitz Scholarship, William Petschek Undergraduate Scholarship in Piano, John and Eva Post Scholarship in Piano, Edna Reifsnider Scholarship in Violin and Piano, and the Lois Claire Archbold Smith Scholarship. Ms. Lee will continue to be a teaching fellow in Juilliard’s piano minor department this fall, giving piano lessons to non-piano major Juilliard students.

At age twenty, pianist Orion Weiss has received the 2000-01 Gilmore Young Artist Award, as well as the 2002 Avery Fisher Career Grant, and beginning with the 2002-03 season, Mr. Weiss will join the Chamber Music Society Two program of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center.

Mr. Weiss has been heard nationwide in the Ravinia Rising Starts Series in Illinois, St. Louis’ Sheldon Concert Hall, and with orchestras including the Baltimore Symphony, Cleveland Orchestra, the Cincinnati Chamber Orchestra, the Oregon Symphony, and the Santa Rosa Symphony. Mr. Weiss has received first prize honors at the Akron Youth Symphony, Cleveland Philharmonic, Music Academy of the West, Venitia Hall, and the Cleveland Institute of Music Concerto competitions. He also was awarded a scholarship at the Interlochen Arts Camp for four consecutive years and has participated in the Sergei Babayan International Piano Academy, the Perlman Music Program, and Pianofest.

This summer, Mr. Weiss makes his San Luis Obispo Mozart Festival debut. He also will return to the Colorado Music Festival where he performs Mozart’s Concerto No. 24 and Lowell Liebermann’s Piano Concerto No. 2 with Michael Christie conducting. He also will perform recitals in Coral Gables, Florida and Interlochen, Michigan.

Highlights of Mr. Weiss’ 2002-03 season include performances with the Phoenix Symphony, the Canton Symphony, and the Colorado Springs Orchestra, as well as in recitals in El Paso, Texas; Torrance, and Malibu California; and Athens, Georgia.

A native of Lyndhurst, Ohio, Mr. Weiss attended the Cleveland Institute of Music, where he studied with Paul Schenly. Other teachers include Daniel Shapiro, Sergei Babayan, Kathryn Brown, and Edith Reed. Mr. Weiss is a third year undergraduate student, and currently studies with Emanuel Ax at Juilliard where he is the recipient of the Gina Bachauer and the Mieczyslaw Munz scholarships.