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The Korean-born soprano and voice teacher, Josephine YoonGeong Lee (이윤정), obtained her Bachelor of Music degree in Voice summa cum laude from Seoul Arts High School (2001-2003) and Seoul National University (2004-2008); and her Master of Music degree in Voice (2009-2011) and her Doctor of Musical Arts in Voice (Cognate area: Vocal Pedagogy) (2011-2013) from the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music (CCM). At CCM she was a winner of Italo Tajo Memorial Award (CCM Opera Competition, 2011), Teaching/Graduate Assistantship (2012-2013), and a recipient of Mercer Fund Scholarhip (2013). She was also a member of Cincinnati Chamber Opera, Cincinnati Bach Ensemble and Cincinnati Vocal Arts Ensemble.
Praised by The New York Times for singing “with suave clarity,” Josephine Lee is a versatile soloist, recitalist, and educator. As a winner of the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions San Francisco District, she has been frequently invited to perform throughout the Bay Area as a soprano soloist. She has appeared as a soprano soloist in major works including Orff’s Carmina Burana, Felix Mendelssohn's St. Paul, Haydn’s Lord Nelson Mass, W.A. Mozart's Coronation Mass, Johannes Brahms' Requiem, Francis Poulenc's Gloria, and George Frideric Handel's Messiah. She has been featured with leading ensembles in both the USA and South Korea, including San Francisco Symphony Orchestra, Berkeley Community Chorus and Orchestra (BCCO), Stamford Symphony Orchestra, Korea National Opera Orchestra, Korea Coop Orchestra, and Gangneung Philharmonic Orchestra. Her performances have taken place at major venues such as San Francisco’s Davies Symphony Hall and Herbst Theatre, Stanford’s Bing Concert Hall, UC Berkeley’s Hertz Hall, and Seoul Arts Center Opera House. A devoted admirer of J.S. Bach, she has frequently performed his cantatas with the Cincinnati Bach Ensemble under the tutelage of Dr. Carlton Monroe.
Josephine Lee was a Soprano Fellow at the Tanglewood Music Center for two consecutive years (2011–2012), where she received the Grace B. Jackson Prize (2012). She was also a Professional Stern Fellow at SongFest and was invited to the Montecito International Music Festival as a guest artist. She has received numerous awards, including being a two-time winner of the Berkeley Community Chorus and Orchestra Vocal Competition, 3rd prize in the 26th National Opera Association Vocal Competition in Artist Division, and the Italo Tajo Memorial Award at the CCM Opera Competition.
As a passionate recitalist, Josephine Lee curates and coordinates her own recital programs and has a particular affinity for Korean art song. In Korea, she founded Ensemble Lyrique in 2019, an ensemble dedicated to performing Korean art songs in collaboration with composer Mirae Hwang. Her voice is also widely recognized through her recordings of the “Opening Theme” and “Mishil Theme” for the soundtrack of the Korean historical drama Queen Seondeok.
During the 2026-2027 season, Josephine Lee covered the role of Cio-Cio-San in Madama Butterfly with Pocket Opera in a production adapted from Pacific Opera Project’s bilingual Japanese–English translation. She performed the excerpts at the Cupertino Cherry Blossom Festival and the San Jose Nikkei Matsuri Festival with Japanese mezzo-soprano Akane Ota as Duo Haru. She founded an ensemble, Duo Soriga, with gayageum player Hwayoung Shon, through which she performs a wide range of Korean art songs - from traditional to newly composed works - with gayageum accompaniment. She also joined in Ensemble Les Six. This July (2026), she presented and performed newly commissioned Korean food-themed art songs at the National Association of Teachers of Singing (NATS) National Conference in San Antonio, Texas. She will also lead a workshop of "Korean Diction for Singers" this September (2026), sponsored by NATS SF Bay Area Chapter.
Dr. Josephine YoonGeong Lee has taught at Seoul National University (August 2019-August 2024)), Kookmin University (March 2021-August 2024), Kyung Hee University (August 2019-August 2022), Sejong University (March 2018-August 2022), and Kangnam University (September 2022-December 2024), as well as at arts high schools including Seoul Arts High School (March 2019-March 2020), Gyeonggi Arts High School, Incheon Arts High School (March-November 2018) and Ulsan Arts High School.
She is currently a tenure-track member of the Regular Chorus of San Francisco Opera (since March 2025) and serves as the VP of Recital Program at NATS SFBAC and also as the president of Seoul National University College of Music Alumni Association in Northern California. Since September 2026, she is
a Lecturer at Stanford University. |
