Lee taking 4th shot at Bachauer

Ka-Ling Colleen Lee ties the record with fellow Hong Kong native Tanya Bannister in the number of appearances at a Gina Bachauer competition. This year's International Artists Competition marks the fourth time both have trekked to Salt Lake City to participate in the event.

Lee's first appearance here was as a 13-year-old at the junior level. That was in 1993, when she took first.

She returned in 1999 in the young-artists competition and again in the 2002 artists edition. "I like to come back here," she said. "I feel like part of the family."

In between taking part in the Bachauer, Lee has also participated in a number of other competitions. In 2005, she took sixth prize in the renowned Chopin International Piano Competition in Warsaw, where she was the only female laureate that year.

But Lee has a particular fondness for the Bachauer — and not only because she feels at home in Salt Lake City. Along with the other 38 competitors, Lee appreciates the fact that the Bachauer has done away with eliminations until after the third round, when the six finalists are chosen.

"It's a very good idea," Lee said, "because you come prepared with three different programs. It's a good chance to show what you can do. Being eliminated after the first round is not a good feeling."

Still in her 20s, Lee has already embarked on an active concert career on both sides of the Atlantic and in Asia. "I do more than 20 concerts in a season, and also a lot of chamber music and recitals during the summers."

Currently enrolled at the Hochschule fur Musik in Hannover, Germany, Lee divides her time between Germany and her native Hong Kong. "It's a lot of traveling," she admits.

Lee doesn't come from a musical family, but she said that her parents realized that she needed to be involved with music. "My parents felt I should have some music, so they put me in a children's choir. Piano came out of that."

If you go ...

What: Gina Bachauer International Piano Competition, Round 3

Where: Rose Wagner Performing Arts Center, 138 W. 300 South

When: today, noon-5 p.m.

How much: today, $15; Thursday and Friday, $22-$42

Phone: 355-2787 or 888-451-2787

Web: www.arttix.org

Radio broadcast: KBYU (FM-89.1), daily, 3 p.m.

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E-mail: ereichel@desnews.com