Dr. Seo gives cello lessons for the music department.
Dr. Jun Seo started playing cello at age 13 and he soon attended Seoul Arts High School where he won the 1st prize from the Seoul Young Artist Chamber Music Competition. During his high school years, he came to the United States to study abroad and attended the Walnut Hill School in Natick, MA. He received the 2nd prize from Newton Symphony Orchestra Young Artist Concerto Competition, Elizabeth Harper Vaughn Concerto Competition, the International Chamber Music Society in Boston and the Sorantin International String Competition. He received a 1st prize from Mid-Texas Symphony Orchestra Young Artist Competition, Colorado College Summer Music Festival Concerto Competition and UT Butler School of Music String Competition. He has also received Best Instrumentalist award from Sidney Wright Competition and two honorable mention awards from Sidney Wright Competition, Coeur d’Alene Symphony Orchestra Young Artist Competition. He soloed with the Mid-Texas Symphony Orchestra, University Orchestra at the University of Texas-Austin, Colorado College Summer Music Festival Orchestra and Austin Civic Orchestra. Dr. Seo was an adjudicator for numerous competitions, such as University of Texas String Project at Austin, Texas Strings Camp, Austin Chamber Music Center, Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville Suzuki Program and Jackie McGehee Young Artist Competition.
He received a Bachelor of Music Degree from the New England Conservatory School of Music in Boston in 2009. He received a Master’s of Music Degree and a Doctor of Musical Arts Degree in Music Performance from the University of Texas at Austin studying under Professor Bion Tsang. At the same time, he was a teaching assistant for Professor Tsang and a faculty member at the UT-String Project for three years. Dr. Seo received full scholarships to attend the Heifetz International Music Institute, StonyBrook Summer Music Festival, Killington Music Festival, and Colorado College Music Festival. In 2013, Dr. Seo was a resident artist at the Lake George Music Festival in Lake George, NY. From 2010-2015, Dr. Seo was a music director at Austin Korean Presbyterian Church. He also was a cello faculty member at University of Illinois at Springfield, University of Illinois at Springfield Community Music School, Suzuki faculty at Webster University Community Music School, Illinois Symphony Preparatory Orchestra, Omaha Conservatory of Music Summer Institute, String Orchestra Camp at Webster University Community Music School, Chamber Music Encounter at Webster University Community Music School, Austin Chamber Music Center, Songbird Rising String Camp at Austin, Assistant Director at Texas Strings Camp Young Artist Division and he also was a cello instructor at various public schools in Austin area.
Dr. Seo has studied cello with Bion Tsang, Jin-kyung Chee, Hee-song Song, Laura Blustein, and Yeesun-Kim. He also played in Cello masterclasses of Brinton Smith, Laurence Lesser, Alexander Baillie, Ralph Kirshbaum, Peter Wispelwey, Lynn Harrell and Anner Bylsma. He has collaborated with artists such as David Ying, Phillip Ying, Mark Fewer,Yehonatan Berick, Lynn Chang, Thomas Landschoot, Sheila Browne, and Christof Huebner. In the summer of 2009, Dr. Seo performed alongside the Cappella Choir of Seoul Theological University in their European tour. In the summer of 2014, he toured several European countries such as Switzerland and Scotland with the Austin Eurythmy Ensemble. Recently, Dr. Seo recorded the cello part for “Learning Together: Sequential Repertoire for Solo Strings or String Ensemble Volume 2 by Laurie Scott, Winfred Crock and William Dick”. He has maintained a full private studio since 2007. Dr. Seo is currently on the cello faculty at Webster University Community Music School. Dr. Seo is also serving Vice President of Artist Presentation Society.