Ellen Hayun Lee

Ellen Hayun Lee, a Korean-American flutist, was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and raised in the Republic of Korea. She began studying the flute at the age of ten and was soon admitted to the prestigious Yewon School in Seoul. That same year, she was selected as a Kumho Prodigy Artist. She graduated from Yewon School with honors in 2018, receiving numerous distinctions including the Performance Excellence Award, as well as scholarships from the Seoul Arts Academy and the Lee Daewoong Foundation.
Following her early success in Korea, Ellen moved to Paris to pursue advanced musical studies at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et de Danse de Paris (CNSMDP), where she earned both Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees under the guidance of Philippe Bernold and Florence Delépine-Souchard. Her studies were fully supported by a five-year scholarship from the Kwanjeong Educational Foundation.
Ellen has received top prizes in numerous national and international competitions. In Korea, she won first prizes in several major national competitions. Internationally, she was awarded Third Prize at both the Japan Sendai Flute Competition (Adult Division, 2017) and the Japan Flute Convention Competition (Adult Division, 2019). In 2020, she won First Prize (Category B) at the Napolinova 1st World Flute E-Competition in Italy, which led to an invitation to perform in Naples.
She has appeared at renowned venues and festivals worldwide, including the Kumho Prodigy Concert, the Yejin Young Artist Concert, and a joint concert presented by the Korea Entertainment Promotion Agency. In 2019, she was invited to appear at the Cathedral of Notre-Dame de Paris. As a member of the Verbier Festival Junior Orchestra, she performed under the baton of conductors including David Mazur, Stanislav Kochanovsky, and James Gaffigan. In 2025, she participated in the Sarasota Music Festival and Bowdoin International Music Festival, and in 2026, she was invited to join the Tanglewood Music Center as a fellow.
Recent engagements include performances at Smetana Hall in Prague with the North Czech Philharmonic in 2023, at the Golden Hall of the Musikverein in Vienna with the Bohuslav Martin: Philharmonie Orchestra in 2024, and at the Mozarteum Großer Saal in Salzburg with the Szolnok Sinfonie Orchester. She was also invited to perform at the 2024 Český Krumlov International Music Festival.
Ellen is currently enrolled in the Orchestral Performance Master’s Program at the Manhattan School of Music, where she studies with Professor Robert Langevin.