The Korean Concert Society has been presenting young artists of Korean heritage for Washington area debut recitals for over 25 years. The Society celebrated the 25^th anniversary in 2005 with the International Sejong Soloists and violinist, Chee-Yun.  This year, we are proud to present Hee-Young Lim, who is one of the youngest cellists we have auditioned.  The debut recital series is an annual event and we rotate violin, piano and cello each fall at the Terrace Theater.  The Society operates solely from generous contribution of Washington Metropolitan area classical music enthusiasts who respond to our annual fund raising drives.

Grassroots Cultural Organization

The Korean Concert Society was founded in the spring of 1980 by nine families from DC area suburb and incorporated as a non-profit volunteer organization in the State of Maryland.  The Society’s mission is to bring world-class musical talents to the Washington area audience and at the same time provide debut opportunities to gifted young musical artists of Korean heritage from all over the world who are still struggling to become recognized.

The Korean Concert Society is truly a grassroots cultural organization.  In the beginning, the Society selected the artists by recommendations of friends and families. The Society’s members paid for the cost of hall rental, transportation for the artists, and advertisement out of their own pockets. The artists from out of town stayed in members' homes to minimize the cost. As the Korean-American community grew over the years, the community support for the Society also grew. It took about 10 years before the Society could raise enough money from generous contributors to pay for the cost of presenting the artist at the Kennedy Center once a year. Then it took another few years before the Society could afford to pay a token amount to the artist for appearing in their debut recital. Now the Society holds an annual formal audition to select the artist and pays the artist $2,500 for appearing at the Kennedy Center. We are hoping to increase the amount to attract a larger pool of applicants as the support grows.  The Society's growth over the years has been an indicator of cultural maturity and sophistication of the Korean-American community in this area.  This year, we have started an annual Music Scholarship Competition for college level students who attend colleges in Washington area or whose homes are in this area.  Parents who have labored through years of children’s music lessons will be able to see the level of artistry achieved by their children from this area.

Distinguished Alumni

Nearly all the musicians, presented by KCS are “unknown” at the time they performed at our debut recitals, but many have gone on to have distinguished careers. Chee-Yun ('88/violin) is a top-rated solo violinist in the US, Europe, Japan and Korea. David Kim ('82/violin) became the concertmaster of the Philadelphia Orchestra. Catherine Cho ('91/violin) teaches at the Juilliard and is one of the top chamber music performers in the U.S. Yong Hi Moon (‘81/piano) is one of the top piano teachers in the world today and is serving as a professor at the Peabody Conservatory, and her husband Dae Wook Lee (‘81/piano) is the musical director and conductor of Ulsan Philharmonic Orchestra in Korea.  Sungwon Yang ('93/cello) is one of the most popular cello teachers and performers in Korea.  Young Ho Kim (‘83/piano) is a veteran piano teacher in Korea today and he also performs widely in Korea, Japan, and Southeast Asia.   Soovin Kim ('95/violin) in 1996 was the first American to win the Paganini Competition in 24 years and the youngest winner ever and became one of the most favorite violinists among the discriminating listeners.  Daniel Lee (‘97/cello) was recently named principal cellist of the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra.  Violinist, Ju-Young Baek (’00/violin) was recently appointed as a professor at the Seoul National University and became the youngest professors ever in the university’s history.  Lucille Chung (‘94/piano) and her husband Alessio Bax, also a pianist, are performing widely all over the world and recognized for their unique styles.  International Sejong Soloists (‘98/ensemble) is the host ensemble of the Great Mountains Music Festival & School in Korea and considered as the top string orchestra without conductor in the world today.  The Society is proud of all of its alumni and their achievements.

The Next 25 Years

The Society plans to continue its role of discovering young talented performers and bridging the cultural experiences between Korean-American and mainstream American lives. It also plans to increase frequency of its presentations and to include additional venues to expand its reach.  The Society plans to expand its activity to discover and support creative talents of Korean heritage in the coming years. The Korean Concert Society will continue to embrace the classical music art form but also plan to expand its support to mixed media performing arts and Jazz.

Past Performers

Violin:                                                                                                  

Hanwon Choi (1980), David Kim (1982), Jin Kyung Lee (1983), Sarah Kwak (1984), Sung-Won Yun (1987), Chee-Yun Kim (1988), Catherine Cho (1991), Mia Sohn (1991), Soovin Kim (1995), Ann Kim (1996), Ju-Young Baek (2000), Hyuk-Joo Kwun (2004), Stephanie Jeong (2007)

Cello:                                                                                    

David Oh (1983), Ho Ahn (1983), Helen Kim (1986), Wha-Jin Hong (1987), Sang Min Park (1990), Sungwon Yang (1993), Daniel Lee (1997), Patrick Jee (2002), Hee-Young Lim (2007), Jonah Kim (2010)

Piano:                                                                                   

Dae Wook Lee  (1981), Yong Hi Moon (1981), Young Ho Kim (1983), Henry Choi (1983), Sumi Kay (1983), Jin Yeo Choi (1983), Hae Kyung Lee (1985), Yun-Jung Chang (1987), Wonmi Kim (1989), Lucille Chung (1994), Yung Wook Yoo (2002), Soyeon Lee (2006), Elizabeth Joy Roe (2009)

Wind:                                                                                    

Won-Jin Jo, Clarinet (2003)

Voice:                                                                                   

Jung Ae Lee (1982), Byung-Soon Lee (1999)

Ensemble:                                                                            

Euterpe Piano Trio (1992)

Kyung-Ah Kim (Violin)

Yun Jung Huh (Cello)

Kyung Un Rhee (Piano)

International Sejong Soloists (1998)

        Hyo Kang, Music Director