HYEKYUNG LEE

HyeKyung Lee’s music has been described as “virtuosic fantasy where continuous rhythmic motion smoothly joined contrasting moods and effectively propelled from one section to another”…. show[ing] a penchant for colorful timbres, expressive lines, and lively rhythmic interaction of instruments”.

An active composer, Lee has written works for diverse genres and media, from toy piano to concertos, and from electronic music to works for children’s choir. In 2017, She received a prestigious, Ambassador Bonnie McElveen-Hunter commission for Maestro Gerard Schwarz and Eastern Music Festival to premiere the following year. Other commissions include Ohio Music Teachers Association, the Renée B. Fisher Piano Competition, the Meg Quigley Vivaldi Bassoon Competition, Diversify the Stand, and Columbus Children’s Choir and Columbus Symphony Youth String Orchestra. She has also completed music for “We Could Be Your Parents,” a short film by Charlie Anderson; a Cello Concerto for the Hilliard Bach Ensemble; and music for an hour-long multimedia collaboration with the Canaletto Ensemble and media artist, Christian Faur. Recently her music, “Dreaming in Colours” for bassoon and piano was selected for the 2023 Norma Hooks Young Artists International Double Reed Competition. As a pianist, she performs works by other composers as well as her own. One highlight has been a performance of the Hindemith Sonata for Clarinet and Piano with Stanley Drucker at the Great Latin American Clarinet Congress in Lima, Peru, in 2012.

Her awards include Indianapolis Chamber Orchestra Composition Competition, Athena Chamber Composition Competition, UnCaged Toy Piano Competition, Renee B. Fisher Composers Award, Harvey Gaul Composition Competition Award (honorable mention), Composers Guild Composition Contest, Delius Composition Contest, and three awards from the International Alliance for Women in Music (including Nancy Van de Vate Prizefor Orchestral Music).

Her music has been presented throughout the world by prestigious ensembles (such as Third Coast Percussion, Sybarite5, Brookyn Rider, ETHEL String Quartet, Mivos String Quartet, Pittsburgh New Music Ensemble, NOW Ensemble, Brave New Work, Thelema Trio of Belgium), distinguished artists (such as Margaret Leng Tan, Nicolas Horvath, Jefferey Jacob, Igor Lovchinsky, Thomas Rosenkranz, Ronald Van Spaendonck, Marco Antonio Mazzini, Javier Vinasco, Ned McGowen) and herself.

Her music has been supported by the National Endowment for the Arts, Meet the Composer Fund, and residencies at the Villa Montalvo, Djerassi Foundation, Ucross Foundation, Brush Creek Foundation, Virginia Center for the Arts, Millay Colony, Blue Mountain Center, Yaddo, and MacDowell Colony. Her works are available on Pavane, Vienna Modern Masters, Innova, New Ariel, Equilibrium, Capstone, MSR Classics, Mark Custom, Ravello recordings, and SEAMUS CD Series Vol. 8.

Born in 1959 in Seoul, Korea, Lee attended Seoul Arts School (Yewon, Yego), and studied at YonSei University in Seoul, the Czech-American Summer Music Institute in Prague, and the University of Texas at Austin, where she earned her MM, DMA in composition, and a piano performance certificate. She is Associate Professor of Music at Denison University in Granville, Ohio.