Cellist Hee-Young Lim's New Album, "Estrellita"

Released on Orchid Classics, the album features a selection of the artist's favorite encore pieces

Cellist Hee-Young Lim's new album, "Estrellita," features a selection of her favorite encores from composers such as Saint-Saëns, Liszt, Debussy, Ravel, Amy Beach, and more, performed with pianist Chuhui Liang.

The pieces were performed using existing transcriptions as well as her own — as many of the works were originally composed for violin, piano, or voice.

The title track, Estrellita, was composed by Manuel Ponce and arranged by Jascha Heifetz. Originally a song ('Little Star,' 1912), the piece connects the concert hall to the world of Mexican folk songs.

Another featured work is Beach's Romance Op. 23, originally for violin and piano. Hee-Young wrote an arrangement for the piece presented in the album showcasing Beach's earliest published chamber work as a woman composer which was premiered at the World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago in 1893 with Beach at the piano. The album closes with Schubert's Ave Maria, serving as a timeless melody that sounds as though it has always existed.

"I have always wanted to play the pieces that spoke most to my heart, not only as a cellist, but as a musician," shared Hee-Young. "If there was ever a work that I loved, it led me to wonder how I could one day find a way to play it on the cello, so discovering these transcriptions as well as making my own arrangements was a very natural and joyful journey."

To purchase and listen to the album, click here.

Here Hee-Young performs Rimsky-Korsakov's Hymn to the Sun from ‘Le Coq d’Or’

Korean cellist Hee-Young Lim currently serves as a Professor of Cello at the Beijing Central Conservatory, the first Korean musician to be appointed to the institution. Prior to this appointment, she was the principal cellist with the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra, serving under its music director Yannick Nézet-Séguin. She has performed with orchestras such as the Budapest Radio Symphony, Houston Symphony, KBS Symphony, Warsaw Philharmonic, and the Beijing Symphony Orchestra. In December 2018, the Minister of Culture of South Korea awarded Hee-Young a Prime Minister’s Commendation.

Chinese pianist Chuhui Liang is currently working as a collaborative pianist at Beijing Central Conservatory of Music’s accompanist department. A native of Beijing, she has won many national competitions and performs actively as a soloist and chamber musician.