Hyun-ji kwon, cello

Hyun-Ji Kwon, cellist, currently maintains an active schedule as soloist, chamber musician, and pedagogue. She earned her Bachelor of Music degree at Ewha Women’s University in Seoul, Korea, and was the winner of the top prize at the Seoul Symphony Orchestra Competition and the third prize at the Seoul Youth Chamber Music Competition. She was the principal cellist for the Ewha orchestra and performed as a soloist with the orchestra for two consecutive years. She came to Boston to study at the New England Conservatory, where she earned the Master of Music degree in Cello Performance as well as a Graduate Diploma, after which she completed the Doctor of Musical Arts degree program in Cello Performance at Boston University’s School of Music, in the studio of Rhonda Rider. Her other teachers have included Natasha Brofsky, Il-hwan Bai, and Sungwon Yang. She has performed in master classes for renowned cellists such as Natalia Gutman and Anner Bylsma, and she has participated in numerous music festivals and concerts in both Korea and North America. During her studies at BU, Kwon was selected numerous times to perform in joint Faculty/DMA candidate “Chamber Music Masterworks” concerts, and she was awarded special String Department Honors upon graduation as well as membership in the national honorary society Pi Kappa Lambda. She has performed as guest alumna along with the celebrated Muir Quartet and violist Michelle LaCourse at BU’s Tsai Center, with the Convergence Ensemble, and in several other Boston area ensembles.

She joined the BU School of Music cello faculty in 2015 and Philips Academy Exeter in 2019. During summer, she serves on the faculty of Boston University Tanglewood Institute as Co-Director of the cello workshop program and cello instructor of the Young Artists Orchestra program.