Dr. Byong Won Lee

Professor of Music, Emeritus


Byong Won Lee received his doctoral degree in Ethnomusicology from the University of Washington in 1974; M.A. in Ethnomusicology from the same school in 1971. Prior to coming to the U.S. in 1967, he has attended Graduate School of Seoul National University majoring in Korean Music Theory, and received B.A. degree in Korean Music Theory from Seoul National University in 1964.

His publications include the entire entry of “Korea” in The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians (6th edition); Styles and Esthetics in Korean Traditional Music (1977); Buddhist Music of Korea (1987); and numerous articles and edited works on Korean music.

In 2001, he has authored, coordinated and served as the main lecturer for the month-long “Workshop on Korean Music for Overseas Musicologists,” which was co-sponsored by the Korea Foundation and the National Gukak Center. He was two time Fulbright scholar in Korea in 1972-73 and in 1980-81, and Visiting Professor at the Academy of Korean Studies in 1996-98. He has served as the first President of the Association for Korean Music Research (AKMR) in 1995-96; Secretary-General for the 26th International Council for Traditional Music (ICTM) in 1980-81 and the First International Conference on Korean Studies in 1994. In 1990, he was also invited to the UNESCO’s Integral Study of the Silk Road Maritime Route Expeditions as a senior scholar.