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, Troy Savings Bank Music Hall, and Jordan Hall. She has also captivated audiences via numerous radio broadcasts including WQXR (New York), MPR (Minnesota), WFMT (Chicago), WSMR (Florida). Lee joined the faculty in January 2022 as an opera coach at New England Conservatory in Boston, MA and the music staff in July 2023 as a coach at Boston Lyric Opera.

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Recent highlights include Dame Myra Hess Concert Series; 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; a video-shooting with cellist Laurence Lesser for Tonebase; Omar at Boston Lyric Opera; a new opera Fat Pig at Victory Hall Opera; New York Classical Music Radio WQXR's Live Christmas Concerts at The Greene Space; Minnesota Public Radio's Performance Today.

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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, New York Classical Radio WQXR, Dame Myra Hess concert series, 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.

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Ji Yung is also an accomplished singer. “Showing off the beauty of her musical maturity” (The Korea Economic Daily), she has been cast in various musical productions from 2010-2012 in South Korea. One production in which she performed, Moby Dick, was the first musical staged in Korea where the actors played their own instruments while acting, singing and dancing. Ms. Lee portrayed sea nymph Nereid symbolizing the mother of nature. One critic dubbed her “A magnificent voice” (The Daily Sport Seoul). ​

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Ji Yung is an international volunteer, everywhere. Sharing her love of music with people, she has performed and taught children in the U.S. as well as South Korea, Mozambique, Kenya, Bolivia, and Palestine. As the director of Sing with Hope, Mtree (www.Mtree.org), believing in music as a powerful tool of communication, she spent the summers of 2017, 2019, and 2022 with children in Kenya supporting them through their journey of self-discovery and emotional growth. She is also involved in EnoB New York (www.EnoB.org) as a music director since 2016, reaching out to people who are disabled and hospitalized.

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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.