ABOUT THE ARTISTS

Kaju&Lina Duo: Two Korean pianists met at a conference in Wisconsin while teaching and are committed to fostering diversity through music and the arts, uniting people and communities. Our repertoire includes beautiful traditional duo music, as well as new works by various composers. With a fearless and creative spirit, we strive to push the boundaries of our art, inviting audiences to join us on a captivating musical journey.

Lina Yoo Min Lee

Hailed as “Brava” and the grandeur and nuance of the classical piano repertoire, delivering performances that are technically superb and emotionally compelling” by  Rorianne Schrade by New York Concert Review, Lina Yoo-Min Lee (D.M.A.) is a highly prolific pianist and proactive pedagogue renowned worldwide for her captivating and insightful expressionist style. She has performed extensively both in the US and abroad, gracing prestigious venues such as Alice Tully Hall at Lincoln Center, Boston Symphony Hall, and Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall. Her most recent major piano solo recital, "Music by Women," held at Carnegie Hall in New York City in October 2022, received high acclaim for her exquisite interpretation of an eclectic program and powerful pianistic virtuosity. Broadcasting her concerts through platforms like WFMT, WQXR, WORT, Medici.tv, and YouTube has further expanded her reach to audiences around the world. Her piano solo digital album, "Memories," featuring live performances of works by renowned composers, garnered praise from both the New York Concert Review and MBN, a major broadcasting network in South Korea.

Lee is also known for her extensive collaborations with internationally renowned singers and instrumentalists as a vivid collaborative pianist. She has performed at prestigious venues and actively engages with underserved communities, sharing her talents and passion for music. Lee has collaborated with members of the Madison Symphony Orchestra and the Sheboygan Symphony Orchestra and is enthusiastic about interdisciplinary collaborations with other artists. Her commitment to diverse collaboration has led her to participate in numerous music festivals, including the Aspen Music Festival, the Bowdoin International Music Festival, and the Stanford Summer Seminar, working with esteemed musicians such as Joaquin Valedepnas, Donald Weilerstein, Hamish Milne, Hung-Kuan Chen, Julian Martin, Anne Epperson, and Virginia Weckstrom.

As a passionate pedagogue and educator, Lee actively teaches piano and presents her research internationally. She has given lectures, masterclasses, workshops, and presentations at prestigious institutions such as Stanford University, the University of Kansas, the University of Wisconsin-Madison and Platteville, Seoul National University in Korea, the National Conference of Keyboard Pedagogy, and the European Piano Teachers Association International Conference. Lee has also been invited to adjudicate competitions and serve on juries for national auditions and exams, such as the 2022 Sejong Music Competitions and the MTNA Piano Competitions.

Community engagement and arts outreach hold a special place in Lee's heart. She is dedicated to promoting the works of underrepresented and historically marginalized composers. She founded and served as the Artistic Director of the DEIB Festival in Madison, Wisconsin, focusing on diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging, as well as leadership, collaboration, and community engagement. Additionally, she actively supports providing high-quality music education and performances to underserved communities and children with disabilities. Lee regularly teaches piano for communities and is involved with Love in Music, a non-profit organization that offers free opportunities for young children from underserved communities to learn classical instruments through musically trained volunteers. She is also the Chair of Madison Area Music Educators, a non-profit organization fostering growth and enrichment in the local community's cultural and artistic life.

Lee's educational background includes training at Walnut Hill School for the Arts and New England Conservatory’s Preparatory School. She holds a B.M. in Piano Performance and M.M. degrees in Piano Performance and Pedagogy from the Peabody Institute of the Johns Hopkins University, where she was awarded various scholarships. She further pursued her studies and earned a D.M.A. in Piano Performance and Pedagogy from the University of Wisconsin-Madison with a full scholarship and the Jeanette Ross Award.

Currently, Lee serves as an Assistant Professor of Piano at the University of Minnesota Duluth. Before this, she served on the piano faculty at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and taught at the Peabody Preparatory School of the Johns Hopkins University through the piano pedagogy program.

Kaju Lee

Pianist Kaju Lee has built a national and international career, performing solo and collaborative repertoire in Australia, Austria, Canada, the Philippines, South Africa, South Korea, and throughout
the United States. Her performances have been broadcast by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC), Radio Korea (Seattle, Washington), WRGC (NPR in Milledgeville, Georgia), and the Busan
Munhwa Broadcasting Corporation in South Korea.
Recent significant performances include the Mozart Concerto for Piano and Orchestra, No. 9 in E-flat Major, K. 271, with the KwaZulu-Natal Philharmonic Orchestra, South Africa's premier orchestra, in Durban City Hall (South Africa). The classical web magazine ArtSMart, which covers the arts in Durban and surrounding areas in South Africa, stated of this performance:
”Kaju Lee delivered this rapid and brilliant music with skill and
aplomb. Her performance was delicate and it was much to the taste of the audience, and she and the orchestra were given prolonged applause”
Currently, Dr. Lee is Assistant Professor of Piano Pedagogy and Collaborative Piano at the University of Wisconsin-Platteville, where she oversees the keyboard area and teaches Applied Piano, Piano
Pedagogy, Class Piano and Collaborative Piano. She recently launched the UW-Platteville Collegiate
chapter of MTNA (Music Teachers National Association), for which she serves as faculty advisor. She is
also on the piano faculty at the prestigious Interlochen Arts Camp and serves as the MTNA Composition Competition and Young Artist Competition Wisconsin State Coordinator. She has taught and/or collaborated at Georgia College (Milledgeville, Georgia), Sam Houston State University (Huntsville, Texas), the Texas Young Artists Competition, the Atlanta Flute Club, the Patti and Allan Herbert FrostSchool of Music Program (Salzburg, Austria), the Choral Symphony Society in New York City, and the Pre-College Division of the Manhattan School of Music. She has been invited to adjudicate at the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Beethoven Piano Competition and Shain Competition for Woodwind Piano Duos, MTNA South Carolina State’s Performance Competition, Wisconsin Music Teachers National Association’s Badger Competition, South Carolina Governor’s School for the Arts & Humanities’ Piano Competition, and Houston Music Teachers Association’s Piano Competition, among others.
In 2022, she recorded a CD with Daniel Rowland (tuba) of commissioned works, titled Widening Circles, and a CD titled 100 Years of Music for Cello and Piano with New Zealand cellist Emily Duffill.
Lee completed her Doctor of Musical Arts in Collaborative Piano at the University of Colorado-Boulder, where she studied with internationally-renowned teacher Anne Epperson. She also holds degrees from the Manhattan School of Music and McGill University in Montréal.