Our Team
Ji In Yang
DIRECTOR
South Korean violinist Ji in Yang began her music journey at the age of six. Since then, she has appeared internationally as soloist, recitalist, and chamber musician at such venues as the Salle Gaveau in Paris, the Seoul Arts Center, Beijing's National Centre for the Performing Arts, the Kennedy Center, Alice Tully Hall, Carnegie Zankel Hall and Weill Hall, London’s Wigmore Hall, and Cadogan Hall. Recognized for her expressive and nuanced playing, the United Kingdom’s Musical Opinion described her solo appearance at Cadogan Hall as “brilliantly played”.
A guest soloist of orchestras internationally, Ms. Yang regularly appears with ensembles in the United States and all the major orchestras in Korea, including the KBS Symphony Orchestra, Bucheon Philharmonic Orchestra, Suwon Philharmonic Orchestra, and the Ulsan Philharmonic Orchestra to name a few.
Ms. Yang tours regularly with the distinguished conductorless ensemble, Sejong Soloists, where she often appears as a soloist. Their most recent album “Passion” on the Universal Music label features her as a soloist in Piazzolla's Four Seasons’ Summer and Ponce’s Estrellita arranged by Heifetz. In 2006, she was appointed the “Samsung Foundation of Culture” Chair, a distinction she held until 2008.
Ms. Yang's performances have also been heard on radio and television shows such as NPR’s From the Top, Japan’s NHK, America’s Capital Public Radio on “Insight”, and guest appearances on Korea’s KBS television shows “Art Theatre” and “Classic Odyssey". She was also a guest performing artist at the United Nations in their Earth Day celebrations.
A frequent collaborator with some of the worlds leading musicians, she has worked closely with such artists as Joseph Kalichstein, Cho-Liang Jimmy Lin, and Elmar Oliveira. Ms. Yang holds a Bachelor and Master’s Degree from the Juilliard School where she studied with Hyo Kang and Dorothy DeLay, graduated from Yale University with an Artist Diploma on a full scholarship, and Doctorate of Musical Arts on a full scholarship at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York with Daniel Phillips. She has also worked with Ruggiero Ricci, Itzahk Perlman, Rodney Friend, Robert McDuffie, Dong-Suk Kang, Rolf Scholte, Chin Kim, and Igor Ozim in masterclasses.
Ms.Yang plays a Petrus Guarnerius violin, made in Venice in 1723.
Hyun Kyung Lee
CO-DIRECTOR
Hyun Kyung Lee is a Korean-born composer, pianist, educator, and music arranger currently based in New York City. Her works have been performed across the United States, Korea, Asia, and Europe by a wide range of esteemed ensembles, including the American Modern Ensemble, Da Capo Chamber Players, Contemporaneous, Mivos Quartet, Vigil Ensemble, and CME Ensemble. Her music has been showcased at major international festivals and concert series, such as the Brevard Music Center Summer Institute and Festival, the Asian Classical Music Initiative Conference, New Music Series at William Paterson University, Con Vivo Music (CVM), Art Fair 14C, and the Daegu Contemporary Music Festival.
Dr. Lee is particularly recognized for her innovative approach to arranging and her expressive orchestration style. She is an active collaborator, frequently engaging in interdisciplinary projects with artists from diverse fields, including choreographer Artis Smith and visual artists Seongmin Ahn and Heather Williams. Through these multimedia collaborations, she seeks to expand the boundaries of traditional concert experiences.
Throughout her career, Dr. Lee has received numerous academic and artistic honors. During her doctoral studies at the CUNY Graduate Center, she was awarded the Graduate Center Teaching Fellowship, the Presidential Research Fund for Doctoral Student Travel Grant, the Elebash Scholarship, and the Morton Feldman Composition Award from CUNY Brooklyn College. Major Korean institutions, including The Korea Times and the Contemporary Music Society in Seoul, have also recognized her work.
As a scholar, Dr. Lee has presented research on the music of Unsuk Chin at international conferences at the Penn State New Music Festival and Symposium, the International Conference on Women’s Work in Music (WWM) in the UK, the Asian Classical Music Initiative (ACMI), and the CUNY Graduate Center Dissertation Showcase.
Dr. Lee studied with Professors Tania León, David Schober, Ben Bierman, Jeff Nichols, Ursula Oppens, Anne Stone, Gee-Bum Kim, and Seungwoo Paik. She graduated from CUNY Brooklyn College, where she received her MA in Composition, and she holds a Doctor of Musical Arts in Composition from the CUNY Graduate Center. Currently, she serves on the faculty at CUNY Brooklyn College, where she directs the Composers at the Piano Concert series.
Jeong Eun Oh
GRAPHIC DESIGNER
Chris Chung
BOARD MEMBER