SINCE HIS LAST Hong Kong performance just over a year ago, award-winning cellist Trey Lee Chui-yee has recorded his second album, performed around the world, and moved to Amsterdam to join the Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra.
His busy schedule has kept him from mastering the art of riding a bike, a vital skill in his adopted city. In a metropolis criss-crossed by canals and narrow streets, two wheels is the only way to travel. But for someone who has to lug a cello around, it can be a tall order.
'I've grown up in Hong Kong and New York where there aren't many bicycles on the streets,' Lee says. 'In Amsterdam, everybody tells me to get a bicycle, but I'm not good at it. And then to have a cello on your back, it'd be suicide.'
It's a good thing then that demand for his skills keeps him away from his new home. He will be in Hong Kong next Thursday for a recital at City Hall. The concert is the first stop of his China tour, which also takes in Beijing and Shanghai. The Hong Kong-born cellist will also be promoting his new recording Schumann-Mendelssohn-Chopin, released last week.
His sophomore outing comes a year after his self-titled debut, which was rush-released after he landed the prestigious 2004 Antonio Janigro prize, beating 97 cellists from 43 countries. He was the first Chinese to win the competition and caught the ear of talent scouts at EMI Classics.
'They approached us and said 'let's try a first album and if it's successful we'll continue',' says the 33-year-old.