Cliburn Junior Winner Keys Up For Next Challenge

Arlington TX

08 March, 2022

6:59 PM

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By Erin Ratigan, Fort Worth Report March 7, 2022 Pianist Shuan Hern Lee is used to winning awards. Before he was 3 years old, he had already won a local competition for composition — a piano piece called "Ghost op. 3." Lee started studying piano when he was 2 ½ years old and has participated in many national and international music competitions. He won the 2019 Cliburn International Junior Piano Competition, and now the 19-year-old from Perth, Australia is hoping to compete in Texas again this summer. His father introduced him to classical music early in life and always made a point of singing and playing for him. This made Lee appreciate classical piano and inspired his love of Bach, Chopin, Rachmaninoff and Beethoven, he said. Chuckling, he recalled another early competition. "It was just me playing 'Mary Had a Little Lamb' in a local contest … We still have tapes and all that." He swiftly progressed to more challenging pieces and was performing Beethoven at 4. A video of Lee at the time shows him being helped to reach the piano pedals and standing barely taller than the instrument itself. To read the full article, click here. Fort Worth Report is a nonpartisan, nonprofit news organization that produces factual, in-depth journalism about city and county government, schools, healthcare, business, and arts and culture in Tarrant County. Always free to read; subscribe to newsletters, read coverage or support our newsroom at fortworthreport.org.