JOONGBAE
JEE
The Korean conductor Joongbae Jee (b. 1982), based in Germany, is today recognized as one of the most sought-after conductors from Korea, frequently engaged by leading orchestras and highlighted by major media. He is acclaimed for his ability to draw drama and theatrical intensity from the music, distinguishing himself in the fields of symphonic repertoire, opera, and ballet. Beyond his conducting activities, he also works as an opera producer, stage director, and columnist, bringing a broad artistic perspective to his work.
Jee first came to prominence in 2012 when he was awarded the Deutscher Operettenpreis für junge Dirigenten, supported by Deutscher Musikrat (The German music council), Oper Leipzig, and Mitteldeutscher Rundfunk (MDR). He currently works as a freelance conductor, having previously served as First Kapellmeister and Deputy General Music Director at Theater Ulm (2015/16–2017/18) and at Theater Trier (2012/13–2014/15).
He has taught conducting at the Staatliche Hochschule für Musik und Darstellende Kunst Mannheim as well as at the Opera School of the Conservatorium Maastricht in the Netherlands. Jee was selected for the “Maestro von Morgen” artists’ program of the Deutscher Musikrat, has been supported by the Dirigentenforum of the Deutscher Musikrat since 2010, and was awarded a scholarship by the Richard-Wagner-Verband Trier-Luxemburg in 2014.
Highlights of the 2020/21 and 2021/22 seasons included subscription concert debuts with Asia’s most renowned orchestras: the Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra (Music Director Jaap van Zweden) and the KBS Symphony Orchestra (Music Director Pietari Inkinen). He also served as artistic and musical director of the world premiere of Heaven on the Road by Korean-German composer Younghi Pagh-Paan at the Seoul Arts Center Opera House. Additional concert engagements brought him to the Konzerthaus Berlin and the Berliner Philharmonie.
In the 2022/23 and 2023/24 seasons, Jee conducted a new production of Puccini’s Tosca at the Seoul Metropolitan Opera (with Angela Gheorghiu as Tosca, Kammersänger Samuel Youn as Scarpia, and Alfred Kim as Cavaradossi). He also directed and conducted Mozart’s Don Giovanni at the Seoul Arts Center, led the Bochumer Symphoniker in the Philharmonie Essen for the opening concert of the NOW Festival, and appeared with the Nürnberger Symphoniker. He conducted subscription concerts with the Philharmonie Korea, the Gyeonggi Philharmonic Orchestra (Music Director Massimo Zanetti), and several productions with the Universal Ballet Company.
As a guest conductor, Jee has led ensembles such as the Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra, WDR Sinfonieorchester Köln, MDR Sinfonieorchester, Korean National Symphony Orchestra, KBS Symphony Orchestra, Stuttgarter Philharmoniker, Ensemble Resonanz, Südwestdeutsche Philharmonie Konstanz, Baden-Badener Philharmonie, Kurpfälzisches Kammerorchester, Süddeutsches Kammerorchester Pforzheim, the orchestra of the Musikalische Komödie Oper Leipzig, the Symphony Orchestra of Theater Vanemuine Tartu (Estonia), and the State Philharmonic Orchestra Plovdiv (Bulgaria).
From 2014, he served as assistant to Jukka-Pekka Saraste with the Radio Filharmonisch Orkest Nederlands and the WDR Sinfonieorchester Köln. Earlier, in 2012, he assisted Jun Märkl with the MDR Sinfonieorchester. He was a finalist in the 5th Deutscher Hochschulwettbewerb für Orchesterdirigieren (2011) and a quarterfinalist in the “52nd Concours de jeunes chefs d’orchestre Besançon” in France.
He made his operatic debut in 2012 at Oper Leipzig/Musikalische Komödie with Die Fledermaus. Since then, he has conducted a wide range of opera and ballet productions, including Wagner’s Lohengrin; Verdi’s Nabucco, Aida, Rigoletto, and La forza del destino; Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin, The Queen of Spades, Swan Lake, and Sleeping Beauty; Strauss’s Die Fledermaus; Howard Shore’s The Fly (German premiere); Smetana’s The Bartered Bride; Ravel’s L’Heure espagnole; Prokofiev’s Romeo and Juliet; Orff’s Die Kluge; Mozart’s Don Giovanni, La clemenza di Tito, and Die Zauberflöte; Massenet’s Werther; Lortzing’s Der Wildschütz; Lehár’s Die lustige Witwe; Kálmán’s Gräfin Mariza; Gounod’s Faust; Gluck’s Orfeo ed Euridice; and Bizet’s Carmen.
Guest appearances have also taken him to Oper Leipzig/Musikalische Komödie (Die Fledermaus), Theater Hagen (Susannah by Carlisle Floyd), Theater Vorpommern (Die verkaufte Braut), the Korea National Opera (Red Pants, world premiere; La Traviata directed by Arnaud Bernard), and Daegu Opera House. He made his Korea debut in 2013 with Puccini’s Turandot at the Seoul Arts Center and returned in 2017 for a new production of Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte.
Deeply committed to contemporary music, Jee has conducted works by living composers since his student years. While studying in Seoul, he collaborated with Hae-Sun Kang (soloist of the Ensemble Intercontemporain), the TIMF Ensemble, and the SNU New Music Ensemble. He has been a regular guest with the TIMF Ensemble since 2004 and in 2010/11 led its European tour, which included performances at the Vatican, the United Nations in Geneva, and the Camp Libre Festival in France. A 2005 TIMF fellow, he assisted Frank Ollu with the Ensemble Modern (Frankfurt). He also attended the International Ensemble Modern Akademie (IEMA), working with composers Johannes Maria Staud and Martin Matalon as well as conductor Frank Ollu, and conducted the IEMA Orchestra at major contemporary music festivals such as Transart 2009 (Bolzano, Italy) and Klangspuren 2009 (Schwaz, Austria).
Born in South Korea in 1982, Jee now resides in Darmstadt, Germany. He studied conducting at Seoul National University and at the Staatliche Hochschule für Musik und Darstellende Kunst Mannheim with Prof. Klaus Arp (orchestral conducting) and Prof. Georg Grün (choral conducting).
