Lee University’s Wei to Present Beethoven’s Piano Sonatas

The Lee University School of Music will present Dr. Muen Vanessa Wei, piano, in a faculty recital on Thursday, Aug. 29, at 7:30 p.m. in the Squires Recital Hall.

The recital, titled “Hammerklavier,” is the fourth concert in Wei’s “Complete Beethoven’s Piano Sonata Concert Series,” which showcases all 32 of Ludwig van Beethoven's Piano Sonatas over six semesters. The performance will feature Sonatas Op. 106 “Hammerklavier;” Op. 49, No. 1 and 2; and Op. 90.

“The Hammerklavier Sonata was considered the ‘Mount Everest’ of piano repertoire,” said Wei. “It includes the longest yet the most beautiful slow movement and a titanic fugue in the last movement.”

Wei joined Lee’s School of Music in 2021 as an assistant professor of piano and teaches courses such as applied piano, collaborative piano, and chamber music. Prior to Lee, she served as a guest professor at China West Normal University and piano faculty at New Tampa Piano and Pedagogy Academy. She has collaborated with many great musicians including Lynn Harrell, Ian Hobson, Peter Lloyd, and Joel Smirnoff. Wei also has a debut album titled “Im 3/4 Takt” that was considered “one of Centaur’s finest releases to date” by Fanfare.  

Wei earned a Doctor of Musical Arts from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, a Master of Music from the Cleveland Institute of Music, and a Bachelor of Music from the China Conservatory of Music.

The recital is free, non-ticketed, and open to the public. Livestream viewing will be available at leeu.live. Squires Recital Hall is located in Lee’s Humanities Building on Paul Conn Parkway.     

For more information about the concert, contact the Lee University School of Music at music@leeuniversity.edu or call (423) 614-8240.