Lee Minjun "Feeling the thrill of a heart-pounding moment while playing the organ"

Korea International Organ Competition Winner
Concert on the 30th at Lotte Concert Hall

"While playing the pipe organ, I sometimes feel a thrilling sensation as if my heart is being struck by the vibration of the pipes."

Minjun Lee (26), a pianist and organist, said at a press conference held on the 22nd at Lotte Concert Hall that the pipe organ is an instrument that gives performers a profound sense of liberation. The pipe organ, which is both a keyboard instrument and a wind instrument that produces sound by vibrating pipes, can create a variety of sounds and is called the "king of instruments." Minjun Lee said, "The organ is the only instrument that can express the rich sound of an orchestra with a single instrument."

Minjun Lee won first place at the 2nd Korea International Organ Competition hosted by the Lotte Cultural Foundation last year. Since the first competition held in 2019 only selected finalists due to COVID-19 and ended without a winner, Minjun Lee is effectively the inaugural champion. As the winner of the competition, he will perform twice at Lotte Concert Hall on July 30 and October 31. In July, he will participate in the planned concert "Organ Odyssey" at Lotte Concert Hall, and in October, he will hold a solo recital.

The first instrument Minjun Lee learned was the piano. He was first exposed to the piano at the age of five when he inherited a piano used by his aunt. Having practically lived in front of the piano, he entered the Korea National University of Arts majoring in piano. The opportunity to take instrumental practical classes, which allowed students from other majors to study organ, became the turning point for him to seriously study the organ. "My professor recommended that I play Bach's Prelude and Fugue in E-flat minor (BWV 552), and I really liked that piece. I wanted to learn more about the organ, so I applied for a minor."

The organ was already a familiar instrument to him. Following his devout Catholic mother, Minjun Lee attended early morning mass and began volunteering as an organ accompanist at the church from the third grade of elementary school. After graduating with a Bachelor of Arts in Music from Korea National University of Arts majoring in piano, he went to Germany to study organ. He completed both his master's and doctoral degrees in organ at the L?beck University of Music in three years and has been studying a professional piano performance program since last year.

Minjun Lee said the organ is an instrument capable of producing an infinite range of sounds from very soft to very loud. "To produce a loud sound on the piano, you have to exert physical strength, but with the organ, you can produce a loud sound more comfortably."

However, he said the piano is more advantageous for delicate expression. "I believe that in musical expression, crescendo and decrescendo should flow naturally. On the piano, depending on how you play, you can produce soft or strong sounds. On the other hand, the organ produces the same sound whether you press the keys hard or softly. Although you can adjust the volume by manipulating the swell box, it is not as natural as the piano."

Minjun Lee wants to promote the organ, which is less popular compared to the piano, to a wider audience. Therefore, he selected fun, popular, and easy-to-listen-to pieces for the concert on the 30th.

He plans to perform five pieces, including Wagner's "Ride of the Valkyries," famous for its inclusion in the movie "Apocalypse Now," and "Hedwig's Theme" from the Harry Potter film series. He will also perform Gershwin's jazz piece "Rhapsody in Blue" as an organ and piano duo with pianist Kyungmin Kim. Minjun Lee said, "It's my first time playing jazz music, and it's very enjoyable. It's a very colorful and exciting piece that is easy to listen to."

At the solo recital in October, he plans to perform more scholarly pieces that showcase the essence of organ music. These include Bach's Passacaglia, Mendelssohn's oratorio "St. Paul" overture, and works by Liszt, Leger, and Nishimura. He will also give the world premiere of "In Prayer," a piece by Korean-German composer Younghee Park.