Justin Kijun Lee (13), born in South Korea and raised in Vienna, Virginia, started to play cello at age of 4 and is currently a student of Clara Minhye Kim at Juilliard Pre-College.
In 2024, Justin made an orchestra debut with the Accord Symphony Orchestra in Washington, D.C. In the same year, Justin won the Grand Prize in the New York Laureate International Music Competition and first place in the Bellagrade International Music Competition, New York International Music Competition and Young Soloist International Music Competition. In 2024, he also won first place in the Northern Virginia Music Teachers Association’s Concerto Competition and their Bach/Baroque Festival.
In previous years, Justin won first place in many other competitions as well, including the Washington National Youth Competition (2018), American Protége Piano & String Competition (2019), Washington Performing Art’s Joseph and Goldie Feder Memorial String Competition (2019), King’s Peak International Music Competition (2022), YMIC Virtuoso International Music Competition (2022), and the Asian American Music Society International Competition (2022). Justin was featured as a young artist in Classical Open Stage on Maryland Public Television (2018). He has performed at Weill Hall Carnegie Hall, Merkin Hall, DiMenna Center in NYC, Kennedy Center Millennium Stage, the National Gallery of Art in Washington D.C., and UDC Theatre of the Arts.
Justin is also passionate about Chamber and Orchestral music. He is studying chamber music under the tutelage of cellist Jennifer Combs and recently performed as part of a Piano Trio at Juilliard’s Morse Hall. Justin is also a member of Juilliard Pre-College String Orchestra where he studies with a cellist and conductor, Nico Olarte-Hayes, and performed at Juilliard’s Paul Hall. In his hometown Virginia, Justin had been a member of the Quantum Piano Trio and the Mosaic String Quartet and was invited to perform at the National Gallery of Art in Washington D.C., in addition to local high schools. Justin was the youngest member of The Capitol Symphony Youth Orchestra (2017-2019), and he also served as the principal cellist at the American Youth Philharmonic Orchestra’s String Ensemble (2023-2024). Justin is the founder of the “String Cheese” ensemble, which brings joy of music to his community. Justin attended the Heifetz International Music Institute in the summer of 2023 and has studied solo and chamber music with Thomas Mesa and Michael Casimir.
Aside from playing the cello, Justin enjoys folding complex origami models and regularly teaches at a local library. His artwork has been continuously featured in “The Paper'' magazine by Origami USA since 2020 and has been selected to be displayed in a traveling exhibit for schools, libraries, and museums all around the USA.
www.youtube.com/@justinkijunlee
Cello Concerto in B-flat Major No. 9 1st movement, Luigi Boccherini, 8:42
Cello Concerto in B-flat Major No. 9, 3rd movement, Luigi Boccherini, 6:26
