Lee Meng-hsueh is the principal yangqin player of Hong Kong Chinese Orchestra, an executive committee member of the Hong Kong Yangqin Association, a part-time yangqin instructor at the Department of Chinese Music of the Hong Kong Academy of Performing Arts, assisting with the instruction of Master’s degree candidates, and also teaches yangqin for the Hong Kong Young Chinese Orchestra. Lee completed her Master’s degree in yangqin at the Chinese Music Department, Tainan University of the Arts, studying under Hsieh Tsung-Hsin, Huang Ho, Wang Se, Liu Fang-mei and Wang Ching, and was repeatedly awarded scholarships for academic excellence during her study years.
In 2024, Lee performed the Dao of Water Double Concerto for Yangqin, Kanun and Chinese Orchestra at the HKCO concert Then and Now a Dialogue. In 2023, Lee played lead yangqin in Essence – the sixth piece of the musical suite Ji, which was the opening act in HKCO concert tours in Japan and Australia. The same year, Lee was invited by the Chiayi Traditional Orchestra as a guest performer at the closing concert of the Taiwan Chiayi Traditional Music Festival, where she performed the yangqin concerto Formosan Blue Magpie conducted by Zheng Li-Bin. At ‘The Musical World of Yu Qiwei’ concert in 2021, Lee performed Cantonese style concerto A Cool Breeze and the Bright Moon, and Cantonese quintet pieces Rain Lashing on the Plantain, In Celebration of Good Times, and Jingling Bells of the Hungry Horse, which were praised by Cantonese music master Yu Qiwei. Lee has extensive performance experience covering a diverse range of genres, and exquisite technique, resulting in a style that bursts with refinement and passion.
In 2014, Lee was named Most Popular at the Taipei Traditional Instrument Yangqin International Contest hosted by the Taipei Chinese Orchestra, and in 2010 earned first place in the adult division of the Chinese Music Association Instrumental Competition.
Lee has performed many solo concerts in Taipei, Taichung, and Tainan, and commissioned Malaysian composer Kong Su Leong to write the ensemble piece Apsara for yangqin and percussion. Lee has performed the concertos Rhapsody, Love Songs of Mount Tian, Dragon Boat, Horse Trilogy, and Lady of Loulan. Lee’s crossover albums include the film score for The Assassin, and Middle Eastern jazz album Persian Caravanserai.
