Jessica Yaerim Lee

Jessica Lee, named by Seoul Broadcasting System News (SBS News) as a “musical prodigy who communicates with the world through music,” is a creative and passionate composer, born in Toronto in 2007.

Jessica is a Canadian-Korean composer, pianist, and music director whose creative versatility spans classical, jazz, film music, pop, and multimedia music. She is currently pursuing a Bachelor of Music degree in Composition and Piano double major at the New School, Mannes School of Music.

She has presented her works in numerous concerts across New York and Korea, both as a composer and performer. Her major appearances include concerts such as the Play it Safe Composition Concert (2025, Composer), the Who Is Arts Orchestra Concert (2024, Music Director), the Playing Like a Clown Art Theater Concert (2024, Arranger and Pianist), the Jessica Yaerim Lee Composition Recital at Lotte Concert Hall (2023, Composer and Pianist), the Memento Yewon & Choir Festival (2022, Singer), the Chungdong Special Choir Performance (2022, Conductor), the Yewon Performance Recital (2021, Composer and Pianist), the Passion Trio (2021, Pianist), the 20th Seoul Arts Center Recital Hall Gifted Music Academy Autumn Concert (2019, Composer and Pianist), and the M Winner Gala Concert (2019, Pianist). She has performed across orchestral and chamber events in roles including pianist, conductor, arranger, percussionist, and violinist. Her works have gained recognition in international competitions.

Jessica is the Absolute Winner of the BACH International Music Composition Competition (Poland, 2024), the Absolute 1st Prize winner of the UK International Music Competition (UK, 2024), and the 1st Prize winner of the Busan Maru International Music Festival Composition Competition (Korea, 2024). She has also been honored with the Promising Young Composer award at the Vienna Classical Music Academy Competition (Austria, 2021), the World Championship in Composition 2nd Prize (Austria, 2021), and the chamber music 1st prize award at the Vienna International Composer Award (Austria, 2021). Earlier in her career, she won multiple prizes in national competitions, including the 1st prize award at the 44th Tongyeong Grand Prize Competition and the 2nd prize award at The Journal of Music Composition Competition. Additionally, she won first prizes at the Korea Young Artist International Music Competition and Young Artist Concours as a Pianist.

Beyond the concert hall, Jessica is actively involved in various genres and interdisciplinary projects. Her recent collaborations include serving as music director, composer, and film production manager for the Kia Mobility Creator Project (2024) and as short film director and music director for the Kaist & Karts Joint Multimedia and Game Project (2024), where she led sound design and composition for interactive media works. Additionally, she has worked as a music director and composer for the short film Love and Balance and as a short film and music director for Cacophonous. She also leads the Hyacinth indie rock band as bandleader and serves as drummer for the Radiant Backakdan Band. Furthermore, she contributed as an actress to the Arts Council Korea Cultural Content Contest (2024). Through frequent collaborations with university film clubs and contemporary ensembles, Jessica continues to expand her work across multimedia and cross-genre performance.

As both a composer and performer, Jessica continues to explore the evolving intersections between diverse musical genres and eras and to collaborate with other disciplines.