BIOGRAPHY

Hee Jin Yoon is a harpist and educator based in Southern California. She is the Founder & Executive Director of the Orange County Youth Music Foundation (OCYMF), where she founded the California Youth Harp Ensemble (CYHE), a program dedicated to providing young harpists with high-quality ensemble training, performance opportunities, and community outreach.

Ms. Yoon has performed with the Lancaster Festival Orchestra, Cincinnati Ballet Orchestra, Cincinnati Chamber Orchestra, Korean Symphony Orchestra, Kentucky Symphony Orchestra, and numerous orchestras throughout Southern California. She served as Principal Harpist of the Lancaster Festival Orchestra from 2008 to 2015. An active chamber musician, she is the co-founder of Duo Gliss, presenting diverse recital programs and educational performances. As a member of Duo Gliss, she performed at the 2018 American Harp Society National Conference in Redlands, California, and also performed at the 2015 American Harp Society Summer Institute in Logan, Utah.

As a soloist, Ms. Yoon has performed Debussy's Danse sacrée et profane with the Lancaster Festival Orchestra; Mozart's Concerto for Flute and Harp in C Major, K. 299 with the CCM Philharmonia; Handel's Harp Concerto in B-flat Major, Op. 4, No. 6 with the Korean Symphony Orchestra; and Ravel's Introduction and Allegro and Lutosławski's Concerto for Oboe and Harp with the CCM Concert Chamber Orchestra.

Ms. Yoon won the University of Cincinnati Concerto Competition in 2012 and has received numerous honors, including an Honorable Mention in the Victor Salvi Awards, prizes in the Busan MBC Music Competition, and recognition as a finalist in the American Harp Society Anne Adams Awards.

Born in Boston, Massachusetts, and raised in Seoul, Korea, Ms. Yoon earned her Bachelor of Music degree from Seoul National University. She later returned to the United States to pursue graduate studies, earning a Master of Music degree and completing doctoral studies at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music (CCM), where she studied with Gillian Benet Sella. She also earned a Performer Diploma from Indiana University, where she studied with Susann McDonald.

In addition to maintaining a successful private teaching studio, Ms. Yoon is deeply committed to mentoring the next generation of musicians. Through OCYMF and the California Youth Harp Ensemble, she provides young harpists with meaningful opportunities to perform, collaborate, develop leadership skills, and engage with their communities through music.