Jonghee Yoon
Concert Organist & Church Musician
Jonghee Yoon is currently pursuing an Advanced Diploma with Nathan Laube at the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, New York. Jonghee received her master’s degree in sacred music and organ performance at East Carolina University, and a bachelor’s degree from Ewha Woman’s University in Seoul.
She has been the organ scholar at Saint Paul’s Episcopal Church, in Greenville, North Carolina.
Jonghee is a multi-instrumentalist, conducting and playing organ, harpsichord, and violin. She graduated from EWHA Woman’s University in Seoul, South Korea, where she studied organ with Okjoo Park and Min-Jung Gaang. Jonghee has served as organist at the Daeshin Church in Seoul, conductor at Yoido Full Gospel Church in Seoul, and in 2022, she received a diploma of Ruta del órgano in Segovia, Spain.
Jonghee is an active musician. Having played her debut recital at St. Peter’s Church in New York City in 2019, she has since performed in many other parts of the United States, as well as South Korea, the Netherlands, Hungary, Denmark, and Spain.
She was the winner of the Rising Stars 2022 competition hosted by the Raleigh Symphony Orchestra, playing a concert along with them as a soloist. In 2022, Jonghee was invited to play in the American Guild of Organist’s Bach-a-thon and the Bach-a-thon of Pembroke College, England. She was also invited to play at the Haderslev Cathedral in Denmark and Old West Organ Summer Concert Series 2022 and gave a solo concert at St. Paul’s, Greenville. She gave a recital for the Nevelson Chapel Recital Series in New York City, and several concerts in Segovia, Spain.
Jonghee was selected as part of the inaugural "20 under 30 - Class of 2023” for The Diapason magazine, a group of "young talents in the fields of organ and harpsichord performance, organ and harpsichord building, carillon, and church music" who show "superior accomplishments, leadership, creativity, and innovative thinking.
Furthermore, Jonghee played for the independent movie Cofradia and has been a music director in several musical theatrical productions, including Les Miserables, Lou Andreas-Salomé, and Corpus Delicti. Jonghee composed the music, conducted the performers, and mixed the audio on the sound boards, greatly expanding her breadth of experience.
In addition to performing her solo repertoire, Jonghee has developed an interest in chamber music. She has played continuo in Bach’s Cantata with the Saint Peter’s Bach Collegium and solo organ with the Gödi Baroque Ensemble in Hungary. Her other performances in chamber music includes the Early Music Collective Concert with the ECU Baroque Ensemble, a concert celebrating Bach at St. Paul’s, Greenville, and accompanying for the ECU Chamber Singers Choir. Jonghee has also performed with Eastern and Western instruments in the chapel of Ewha Women’s University.
Jonghee has also enriched her education through numerous opportunities. She spent time in Boston studying romantic music with Bryan Ashley at The First Church of Christ and in New York City studying improvisation with Bálint Karosi at Saint Peter's Lutheran Church. Jonghee took part in masterclasses with Peter Westerbrink and Christiaan Teeuwsen in Holland, with the Franz Liszt Academy of Music Professor of Organ and Improvisation Pálúr János in Hungary, with Monica Melcova and Ángel Montero Herrero in Segovia, Spain. Through these experiences, as well as her time at the EROI conference in Rochester and the ISO conference in Udine, Italy, Jonghee gained great appreciation for studying at an institution that provides the instruments and the support needed to play her repertoire.
Jonghee has also worked with organ builders at C.B. Fisk in Gloucester, Massachusetts, where she observed and participated in making, designing, installing, and tuning pipes. She helped to build organs including the instruments at the Holy Name of Jesus Cathedral in Raleigh, NC, St. Peter’s Lutheran Church in New York City, Christ Church Cathedral in Cincinnati, OH, and the Northminster Presbyterian Church in Indianapolis, IN. These experiences broadened her understanding of the organ and the relationship between instrument and music.
