Paul Wee

Paul Wee has forged an uncommon dual path as both a performing pianist and a qualified attorney. His keyboard work focuses especially on Charles-Valentin Alkan, whose scores rank among the most technically demanding in the classical literature. Born Paul Choon Kiat Wee in Australia to parents of Singaporean and Malaysian heritage, he began piano lessons at age four and advanced swiftly. Early public appearances led to a concerto engagement at London’s Royal Albert Hall when he was twelve. He later relocated to New York to study at the Manhattan School of Music under Nina Svetlanova, yet soon questioned the sustainability of a full-time concert schedule. In conversation with critic Norman Lebrecht he remarked, “I wasn’t sure whether touring from city to city, living out of a suitcase away from family and friends and playing similar programmes night after night would yield the best framework for fostering and enjoying the connection with music that I have always had.” Returning to Britain, he read law at Oxford University’s Keble College, completing BA (Jurisprudence) and BCL degrees before being called to the Bar in 1990. The Legal 500 guide has characterized him as “extremely strategic, knowledgeable about international law, enormously hardworking, and a pleasure to work with.” From chambers at Verulam Buildings in London he handles commercial matters spanning finance, energy, mining and exploration, telecommunications, information technology, manufacturing, and media. Although certain legal directories once listed him as having abandoned the piano, he presented two recitals for the Alkan Society in London during 2015 and 2016. Producer Mike Spring attended the second program and forwarded a recording to BIS Records founder Robert von Bahr in Stockholm, resulting in Wee’s 2019 BIS album containing Alkan’s Symphony for Solo Piano and Concerto for Solo Piano. His current website biography notes that he “attempts to balance his love for the piano alongside the demands of a busy international career in law.”