Pianist performs his way to the top
Twenty-one-year-old Brandon Lee has been playing piano for 16 years. Now, as a junior at USU, he has won the Music Teachers National Association Steinway Young Artist Piano competition and will compete in Denver, Colo., at a national level in March.
Competing is nothing new for Lee. He has won first place at more than 30 state, regional and national competitions. Lee has soloed in the Utah Symphony three times and with other orchestras in Colorado and California. Last year, he was named the national winner of the collegiate division of the National Federation of Music Clubs Piano Competitions, where he was awarded $3,000.
He said competing isn’t overwhelming.
“I have been taught to handle my stress well,” he said. “Really what can you do? You have to take it as it comes. Do your best and whatever happens, happens.”
Lee is majoring in piano performance and is a scholarship student of professor Gary Amano. Lee said he has been working with Amano for 10 years. “Professor Amano has guided me so well. He has given me exactly what I needed at each stage of my development,” Lee said. “He has had a huge influence on where I was and where I am going.”
Lee started playing piano when he was 5 years old, he said. His father, Lee said, was the one who encouraged him to learn to play music, knowing it would stimulate his mind and help him to be a better student.
“I remember when we lived in Hawaii,” Lee said. “He would work two jobs, one part time during the day and one graveyard shift, and still be able to homeschool us, take us to our piano lessons, which he would stay and sit through, take us to the park, do the shopping, cooking, cleaning, everything. That example has been something I have tried to follow and live by.”
Lee said his father and Amano both are good influences on him.
“It’s as if they were cut from the same cloth,” he said.
In regards to Amano’s instruction, he said, “It’s easy when you are being taught well. It’s easy to take off.”
Lee said his experience at USU has been nothing but a positive one.
“The nurturing and friendly environment here at USU has shaped who I am. How could it not?” he said.
“There is still so much to learn,” he said. “I have learned such a small scope compared to the centuries of music.”
Lee said he enjoys playing basketball when he has free time. Basketball is a big part of his life, he said, whether he is watching or playing with his friends.
Lee said he has played piano at weddings and at a few events held at USU President Stan Albrecht’s house. He said he enjoys playing for family and friends just as much as he does large audiences and judges.
When it comes to girls, he smiled and said, “I play the piano on request, but never intentionally try to impress them.”
Lee said he is inspired by music and it gives him something to do. He said in the future, he would like to be a full-time pianist.
“If I have to work for the rest of my life, why not do something I enjoy?” he said.
With Nationals coming up, Lee said, “I have been there before. I know what to expect. I just need to prepare and get myself to a level where I will be playing my very best.
“You can’t control the judges, and you don’t know what they are looking for. All you can do is be prepared and do your best.”
The winner of the MTNA Nationals will receive a Model M Steinway & Sons Grand Piano, with a retail value of $49,000. Lee said the Steinway is his favorite piano.-n.drue.t@aggiemail.usu.edu
Brandon Lee won the Music Teachers National Association Steinway Young Artist piano competition and will compete at the national level in March.