Bokyung Byun, guitar

Hometown: New York, New York

Meet Bokyung

Bokyung Byun performed on Show 327 at the Aspen Music Festival and School on August 14, 2016 and performed as a soloist on Show 270 in Athens, Georgia.

Praised by Classical Guitar Magazine as “confident and quite extraordinary,” Korean guitarist, Bokyung Byun​ enjoys a reputation as one of the most sought-after guitarists of her generation. Notably, she is the first female winner of the prestigious JoAnn Falletta International Guitar Concerto Competition, where Falletta herself described Ms. Byun’s performance as “stunning, showcasing her gorgeous tone, immaculate technique, and sophisticated musicianship.” Committed to expanding the role of a 21st-century musician, Ms. Byun is the co-founder of Sounding Board: The New Music Initiative for Guitarists and Composers. The project focuses on promoting collaborative relationships between composers and performers to create new works for guitar, and its inaugural festival in Besançon, France in 2019 has been praised as “extraordinary, in the strict sense of the word,” by La Presse de Gray. Ms. Byun’s debut recording has been praised as “a very beautiful disc. From the first notes of the “Gallarda” from Castelnuovo-Tedesco’s Escarraman, we are treated to extraordinary musicianship, technical assurance, and beauty of sound” (Soundboard Magazine). Now based in Los Angeles, Ms. Byun is pursuing a doctoral degree at the University of Southern California and holds degrees from The Juilliard School.

Listen to Bokyung

Show 327, Aspen, CO
III. Fuoco from “Libra Sonatine” by Roland Dyens

Show 327, Aspen, CO
“El ultimo tremolo” by Agustín Barrios Mangoré

Show 270, Athens, GA
Recuerdos de la Alhambra" (Memories of the Alhambra) by Francisco Tárrega