FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – The Indiana University Jacobs School of Music is pleased to announce the appointment of Kyung Sun Lee as professor of music in violin, effective Jan. 1, 2023, pending approval of the IU Board of Trustees.
In addition to being in demand as a soloist and chamber musician, Lee is an accomplished teacher and clinician. She has been professor of violin at Seoul National University since 2009. Previous appointments include assistant professor of violin at Oberlin Conservatory in fall 2001 and associate professor of violin at the University of Houston in fall 2006.
Lee taught for two summers at the Aspen Music Festival and has also been on faculty at the Bowdoin Music Festival and the Heifetz International Institute. In recent years, she has been in demand as a judge of violin competitions including the Joachim International Violin Competition Hannover, Seoul International Competition and Singapore International Violin Competition.
“Kyung Sun Lee is a leading violinist of her generation and one of its most revered pedagogues,” said Abra Bush, David Henry Jacobs Bicentennial Dean. “We are delighted to welcome her from the most prestigious university in South Korea to our very own Indiana University Jacobs School of Music.”
Lee captured a bronze medal in the 1993 Queen Elizabeth Competition, sixth prize in the 1994 Tchaikovsky Competition, first prizes at the Washington and D’Angelo International Competitions and third prize in the Montreal International Competition, where she also won the Audience Favorite and Best Performance of the Commissioned Work prizes.
She has enjoyed ever-increasing popularity as a performer, receiving high critical acclaim, and is music director of the Changwon International Chamber Music Festival and the Seoul Virtuosi Chamber Orchestra.
Lee, who plays a Joseph Guarnerius violin from 1723, studied at Seoul National University, Peabody Conservatory and Juilliard. Her teachers have included Sylvia Rosenberg, Robert Mann and Dorothy Delay.
“The Strings Department is excited to welcome Kyung Sun Lee to our faculty,” said Simin Ganatra, chair of the department. “Her extraordinary gifts as both a performer and teacher will bring a rich musical perspective to our violin students and community at large.”