​    ​​S​eo He​e Byun, Violin

As a recipient of the Peabody Merit Scholarship, Seo Hee Byun earned her Bachelors and Master of Music at the Peabody Conservatory of Music of The Johns Hopkins University under Pamela Frank. She then continued her studies at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign as a full tuition scholarship recipient and received her Doctorate of Musical Arts. During her studies, she was a concertmaster for the University of Illinois Symphony Orchestra and led the New Music Ensemble and Sinfonia da Camera. Beyond her school years, she was a member of the Civic Orchestra of Chicago. During this time in Chicago, she performed with great figures in music including maestro Ricardo Mutti and cellist Yo-Yo Ma.

Originally from Seoul Korea, as a soloist, Seo Hee has performed with the Seoul Academy Symphony and Kang-Nam Symphony when she was teenager. Also, she was invited to perform at the Carnegie Hall as the winner of American Protégé Competition in the String and Piano Division as well as the Concerto Division. Previously, she won the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign Concerto Competition and was a finalist of the 2009 Yokohama International Music Competition, California International Young Artists Competition and Atlantic Symphony Competition. For the past decade, she has appeared as a violinist with Sonnet Ensemble, the Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra, TongYeong International Music Festival Orchestra, Seoul Chamber Ensemble, performing with various great artists in the world.