Kyung Won Jeon
Kyung Won Jeon has been dedicated to the cello since the age of 11, graduating from the Seoul Arts High School (SAHS), the most prestigious pre-college level classical music and arts high school in South Korea. After graduating from SAHS, he was accepted into Korea National University of Arts (KNUA) Department of Instrumental Music, where he studied the cello under Myung-hwa Chung, a world-renowned cellist and the winner of the Geneva International Music Competition. Jeon received a bachelor’s degree and thereafter a master’s degree in music from KNUA. Upon completing his studies at KNUA, he initially pursued a doctoral degree in cello performance at Michigan State University (MSU) in Lansing, Michigan. At MSU, he was on a full-tuition scholarship (Stanley and Selma Hollander Endowed Scholarship for First Chair in Cello) and studied under and worked as a teaching assistant of Professor Suren Bagratuni, a worldly recognized cellist and the winner of the 1986 International Tchaikovsky Competition. However, in pursuit of studying the orchestral music at a deeper context, Jeon decided to enroll in the Artist Diploma Program at Duquesne University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, where he, again, was on a full-tuition scholarship and worked as a teaching assistant. At Duquesne he studied under Anne Martindale Williams, principal cello of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra and a lecturer at Carnegie Mellon University. Jeon successfully completed his study and received his Artist Diploma from Duquesne in 2008. While attending the SAHS, Jeon won his first major music competition at a relatively young age by being named a winner of the Chosun Newspaper Competition, the most prestigious classical music competition in South Korea. Three years later, in 1995, he was the winner of the Korean Festival Ensemble Competition, and in 2003, he competed in his first international music competition, Concerto Competition of Cheltenham Symphony Orchestra in the United Kingdom, where he was again named a winner. The Concerto Competition of Cheltenham Symphony Orchestra also provided him with his debut at the international stage where he played the Cello Concerto No. 1 by Dmitri Shostakovich with the Cheltenham Symphony Orchestra. In addition to his performance with Cheltenham Symphony Orchestra, Jeon has performed as a soloist and with numerous ensembles and orchestras. Many of his prominent performances took place at the Bach Hall in Vienna, Austria; the Tchaikovsky Hall of the Moscow Conservatory in Russia; Fete de la Musique (Music Festival) in Courchevel, France (2002); Osaka University in Osaka, Japan; The Music Auditorium Building at Michigan State University (2005) in Lansing, Michigan; PNC Concert Hall (2007 and 2008) and the Carnegie Music Hall in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; Heritage Ensemble String Quartet Foundation Concert at Ceramic Palace Hall in Seoul and Seoul Art Center in Seoul, South Korea. Jeon also performed in Seoul International Music Festival and the Pan-Asian Music Festival in South Korea, as well as the Vienna Music Festival in Austria. After returning to South Korea in 2008, Jeon started teaching at various music and art schools and universities. He was a professor at Kijeon University as well as a lecturer at Seoul Art High School, SunHwa Art High School, YeoWon School, SAHS (Jeon’s alma mater), Jeonju University, HanSei University, and SeoKyeong University. He has been invited to several primary music competitions in South Korea as a juror, including the Hankook Newspaper Competition, Eumyeon, Music Journal, etc. He was as well invited as a judge at the International “Iste’dod” Music Competition at Uzbekistan in 2018. Jeon, besides teaching and performing as a cellist, also debuted as a music director and conductor. He was the music director of the Seoul Seocho Youth Symphony Orchestra and the Seokyung University’s string chamber orchestra. In addition to his dedication as an educator, Jeon remains active as one of the leading cellists in the world by regularly performing solo recitals and ensemble and orchestra concerts. He does so through his involvement in chamber orchestras and ensembles such as Seoul Solist Cello Ensemble, Heritage Ensemble, Hanum Chamber Ensemble, and Bliss Piano Trio. Recently, he relocated to Pittsburgh, PA in the United States of America. He is a professional concert artist, a professor and a judge of international competitions in the world.