The Korean Cultural Society of Boston
한미예술협회
Taeguk Mun Cello Recital
PROGRAM
G. Fauré, Sonata for Cello and Piano No 1 in D minor Op. 109
R. Schumann, Fantasiestucke
Isang Yun, Nore
F. Mendelssohn, Sonata for Cello and Piano No 2 in D major Op. 58
Taeguk Mun
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A recipient of the 2016 Janos Starker Award, laureates of the 2nd Queen Elisabeth Cello Competition and 16th International Tchaikovsky Competition, as well as the first prizewinner of Pablo Casals International Cello Competition and the 3rd Andre Navarra International Cello Competition, South Korean cellist Taeguk Mun enjoys an international career as a soloist, chamber musician, and an educator.
Mr. Mun has appeared with various major orchestras worldwide including Bremen Philharmonic, Hungarian Radio Symphony, Orchestre national du Capitole de Toulouse, Taipei Philharmonic Orchestra, Prague Symphony Orchestra, and Korean Symphony Orchestra. As a chamber music enthusiast, Mr. Mun has made regular appearances at various chamber music series, including the Seoul Arts Center Summer Music Festival, Lotte Concert Hall Classic Revolution, and Seoul Spring Festival in Korea, Chamber Music International in Dallas, TX, and Salon de Musique in La Jolla, CA. Mr. Mun has collaborated with distinguished artists such as Jonathan Biss, Paul Biss, Jinjoo Cho, Kyungwha Chung, Miriam Fried, Stefan Jackiw, Clara-Jumi Kang, Dong-Suk Kang, Kim Kashkashian, Bomsori Kim, Julius Jeongwon Kim, Sunwook Kim, Julien Labro, Marko Letonja, Dong Hyek Lim, Joseph Lin, Richard Lin, Mischa Maisky, Ryan McCullough, Richard O’Neill, Noreen Polera, Christoph Poppen, Cynthia Raim, Yekwon Sunwoo, Arman Tigranyan, Inmo Yang, Nikolaj Znaider, and Carmit Zori.
Mr. Mun has studied as a full scholarship student at the University of Southern California with Marcy Rosen, Hannah Roberts, and Ralph Kirshbaum where he finished a Master of Music degree. He additionally holds a Bachelor of Music degree from New England Conservatory, where he studied with Laurence Lesser with full scholarship. A native of South Korea, Mr. Mun moved to New York in 2007 and continued his training with Minhye Clara Kim at the Juilliard School Pre-College division. He is currently pursuing the Artist Diploma program at the Juilliard School with Joel Krosnick and Minhye Clara Kim.
Mr. Mun is sponsored by SungJung Cultural Foundation, Hwangjin Scholarship Committee and was selected as a “G.rium Artist” by SK Chemicals of Korea. He was the artist-in-residence at the Lotte Concert Hall in 2022 and Kumho Art Hall in 2017 in Korea. Mr. Mun has released an album with Warner Music in 2019 as an homage to Pablo Casals.
Ji Yung Lee
Hailed by Gramophone for her “beautiful playing” and “intimate internal dialogues,” 2nd prize and special award winner at Salieri-Zinetti International Chamber Music Competition in Italy, pianist and vocal coach Ji Yung Lee is an active performer and has made appearances at Carnegie Weill Hall, Alice Tully Hall, John F. Kennedy Center, Merkin Concert Hall, The Greene Space, and Jordan Hall. She has also captivated audiences via numerous radio broadcasts including WQXR (New York), WGBH (Boston), MPR (Minnesota), WFMT (Chicago), WSMR (Florida). Currently, Lee is a
full-time faculty member at New England Conservatory as an opera coach and a music staff member at Boston Lyric Opera.
Recent highlights include Connections Chamber Music Series at New England Conservatory with cellist Allison Eldredge; J. Bologne’s opera Anonymous Lover at Boston Lyric Opera (principal coach); Dame Myra Hess Concert Series with violinist Seohyun Kim; Pehlivanian Opera Academy as a conducting fellow (La Traviata in 8 different cities in Slovenia); concerts with violinist Chad Hoopes, Danbi Um, and violist Barry Shiffman at Rockport Chamber Music Festival; Harriman-Jewell Series with violist Jordan Bak; a video production with cellist Laurence Lesser for Tonebase; New York Classical Music Radio WQXR's Live Christmas Concerts with tenor Stephen Costello; Minnesota Public Radio's Performance Today.
Lee’s passion for vocal music has been a significant part of her musical journey. She has worked with Boston Lyric Opera, Victory Hall Opera, Boston Arts Song Society, Korea Chamber Opera Festival, Juilliard’s Drama division, and Amelia Island Opera. Ji Yung has served Victory Hall Opera as its first official pianist-in-residence, with the title of Chief Repetiteur. She has participated as a vocal piano fellow with full scholarships in festivals including Music Academy of the West, Aspen Music Festival and School, SongFest (The Marc and Eva Stern - LA Opera Professional Fellowship), and Hawaii Performing Arts Festival.
In addition to her extensive vocal repertoire, Lee is enthusiastic about instrumental chamber music. She actively performs with internationally-acclaimed instrumentalists throughout the United States, as well as mentoring and playing for young musicians at recitals and music festivals such as Morningside Music Bridge. She has been invited to Rockport Chamber Music Festival, Harriman-Jewell Series, Ashmont Hill Chamber Music, New York Classical Radio WQXR, Chamber Music Society of Little Rock, to name a few. She has participated in violist Jordan Bak's debut album IMPULSE. She has served as a staff pianist both at The Juilliard School and New England Conservatory.
Ji Yung obtained her Graduate Diploma in collaborative piano from The Juilliard School, completed her Master’s Degree and Graduate Diploma in collaborative piano with academic honors at New England Conservatory, and earned her Bachelor's Degree at Yonsei University in Korea, where she majored in choral conducting. Her teachers and mentors include Margo Garrett, Jonathan Feldman, Cameron Stowe, Diane Richardson,
J. J. Penna, Max Levinson, Cynthia Hoffmann, Roger Tapping, Laurence Lesser, Young Hwa Yoon, Ick Hyun Cho, and Ho-Jeong Jeong.