Moonkyung Lee

Acclaimed violinist Moonkyung Lee, described by ResMusica as “one to follow,” has delighted audiences across Europe, the United States and Korea with her expressive performances. She has collaborated with many world-class ensembles, conductors, and performers, and is celebrated as an “expressive soloist” (Fanfare Magazine).

Lee’s debut recording of Tchaikovsky Works for Violin and Orchestra, released on Navona Records with the London Symphony Orchestra and double Grammy-winning engineer Steve Price, received enthusiastic praise from audiences and critics alike. Fanfare Magazine noted that “her articulation is frequently a joy; her sense of legato enables the central Canzonetta to enter a different, more immediately Tchaikovskian, world.”

Meanwhile, ResMusica noted that it was, “a fine performance, a perfectly successful bet, an admirable phalanx” and that Lee “justifies the attentive listening of this CD”. Music Web International noted that, “Lee sounds… involved, passionate… while keeping a firm grip on the musical elements.” According to The Whole Note, “certainly the performances seem to get closer to the heart of the music,” and Gramophone Magazine applauded Lee for her “satisfying mahogany tone” and the finale of the Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto which “really dances.”

Tchaikovsky Works for Violin and Orchestra won the silver medal from the 2017 Global Music Awards, and Canada’s CFBX FM selected it as their ‘Top 5 Classical Albums’. Also, chosen by Spotify for their ‘Classical New Releases’ playlist, Sérénade mélancolique, Op. 26 has gained over 50,000 streams.

Also an active scholar and pedagogue, Ms. Lee has written for The Strad Magazine, a faculty of the New York University and is currently adjunct professor of violin at the University of Seoul.

Lee, who received her Bachelor’s of Music degree from Boston’s New England Conservatory, where she graduated on a scholarship with honors, and Master of Music degree from Yale University, also on scholarship, earned her Ph.D. from New York University. She plays an 1845 Vuillaume violin previously owned by Jack Benny.

Ms. Lee is the recipient of many awards and scholarships including the Luigi Zanuccoli International Competition, the Padova International Competition, the New York University Concerto Competition, the Yale Chamber Music Celebration, and an NYU/Steinhardt Doctoral Fellowship for Ph.D. Studies (of which she was the first ever classical string performer recipient). Lee frequently gives recitals in New York, Boston, and Seoul, making her New York debut at the Merkin Concert Hall at the Kaufman Center. Her two recitals in Seoul during 2015 were sponsored by the Arts Council Korea. She has often featured as a solo performer on Korea’s national television station, KBS, on its ‘Classic Odyssey’ program which is solely devoted to classical music. She has also participated in many music festivals such as the International Summer Academy Mozarteum in Salzburg, Austria and the Banff Center for the Arts in Banff, Canada.

She has performed alongside the Cordoba Symphony Orchestra, under the baton of Maestro Maxim Shostakovich; the Beethoven Triple Concerto with Mischa Maisky, cello, with the Bohuslav Martinu Philharmonic Orchestra; and the Vienna Symphony Orchestra celebrating the 250th Anniversary of the Birth of the Austrian composer Ignaz Pleyel. Lee has also appeared as a soloist with the Albany Symphony Orchestra, French Chamber Orchestra,  Camerata Europaea, Zabrze Philharmonic Orchestra, North Czech Philharmonic Orchestra, Hradec Kralove Philharmonic Orchestra, Eurorchestra da Camera di Bari, Carlsbad Symphony Orchestra, Russia Ulan-Ude Opera and Ballet Theater Symphony Orchestra, New York University Symphony Orchestra, Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra, Busan Philharmonic Orchestra, Gyeongsangbuk-do Provincial Symphony Orchestra, Yongin Philharmonic Orchestra, Euro-Asian Philharmonic Orchestra, Korea Symphony Orchestra, the Mostly Philharmonic Orchestra, and Seoul Pops Orchestra. The venues in which Lee has performed include: the Berlin Konzerthaus, the Großer Musikvereinssaal in Vienna, Dvorak and Smetana Halls in Prague, and the Seoul Arts Center Concert Hall.