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ABOUT

I'M KRISTINA LEE AND I WAS THE RELUCTANT PIANO TEACHER 

I started teaching piano while I was in high school to be able to pay for my own piano lessons. I continued teaching until I finished my Bachelors in Piano Performance. But shortly after, I quit. And I never wanted to teach piano again. It wasn't until I turned 40 and I had gone through life's joys and sorrows, that I felt a calling back to music and back to teaching. 

You see, I'm a practical and programmatic person. And I felt that music was a luxury. I wanted to contribute to the world by doing something that was more relevant. My desire to help people took me all the way to the slums of Beirut. I was helping with an after school tutoring program and collecting donations for an organization working with the poorest of the poor in Lebanon. But as it happened many times in my life, I was asked to use my musical skills. I found myself teaching music and forming a children's choir with the children I could barely communicate with. 

And then it happened. As I taught quarter notes and eighth notes and the song Edelweiss from the Sound of Music to the children of the slum, I saw how music empowered them to dream. To think beyond what is. To imagine beyond the necessities of life. To strive for beauty and balance. Then and there I realized that I missed it my entire life - music was the most powerful thing I had to share. It has the power to restore human dignity. Power to move and inspire. The power to heal the hearts of a whole nation.

MORE OF HER STORY

 

Kristina Lee was born in Korea, grew up in the United States and lived in Istanbul, Turkey and Beirut, Lebanon. Kristina is a musician, educator, entrepreneur, world traveler, and a certified life coach. 
 

Kristina started playing the piano at age eight. From early on, music opened a whole new world of imagination and possibilities for her. When she immigrated to the US at age twelve and started learning English for the first time, music became the medium that allowed Kristina to express herself beyond any language could. Kristina earned her Bachelors in Piano Performance at University of Washington in Seattle, Washington and Masters in Intercultural Studies at Fuller Graduate Schools in Pasadena, California.
 

After finishing her masters’ degree, Kristina went to explore the world. It took her to over 40 countries and gave her opportunities to work with humanitarian organizations, expats, scholars, refugees, and the homeless. Music was not always the main work she did in the places she worked and lived in, but it had an unmistakable presence in all that she did, never failing to open doors and hearts of people.
 

Kristina relocated to the Seattle area in 2012 as her life took an unexpected turn. As she started rebuilding her life, she felt a clear voice and a calling that this was her second chance to dedicate her life to sharing music. That was the humble birth of Kristina Lee Music from Kristina's one bedroom apartment in Bellevue, Washington.

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Since then, Kristina Lee Music has gone through multiple iterations of growth and changes, with various programs and teaching staff, but with a constant focus on depth, quality, and the calling to empower people to meet their full potential.

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My ability to express and create music has allowed me to have immeasurably meaningful experiences in my life and I am forever grateful for the gift that music has been to me. Music is magic. And the opportunity I am given as a teacher to create that for my students’ lives is a privilege I do not hold lightly. Piano teachers hold one of those odd and rare places in our society. We do not only teach but we also mentor, help, listen, guide, empathize, encourage, marvel, and inspire. Our relationship with a student can last anywhere from a few months to a few years and often beyond a decade. Beside my love and passion for music, it is this relationally transforming aspect of piano teaching that I value as much, if not more.

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Kristina Lee’s first album, recorded in 2001 with her original compositions, can be found on iTunes, Spotify, and Amazon. Kristina is a member of Music Teachers’ National Association and has been a speaker at Washington State Music Teachers Associations’ State Conference. She has served in the board of Eastside Music Teachers’ Association and has been invited multiple times to lead workshops on improvisation. She currently serves in National Conference Keyboard Pedagogy’s Creative Track Committee.

In 2018, she collaborated with climate scientist Judy Twedt in presenting Judy’s first live performance of data sonified music at TEDx Seattle. Kristina served as the first Music Curator of Capitol Cider, curating multiple genres of live music for the venue. Kristina’s scope of work in the field of music as an pianist, composer, teacher, director, and visionary stands matchless. 

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