Ethnomusicologist selected as recipient of prestigious award

Professor Byong Won Lee, an ethnomusicologist with the UH Mānoa Department of Music, has been selected as the recipient of the 2011 Joong Ahn Prize for Achievement in Arts and Humanities. The Dukwon Forest Foundation in Pusan, Korea, selected Lee as the winner. The award comes with a cash prize of 10 million Korean Won (approximately $9,000).

 

Lee obtained his bachelor’s degree in Korean Music Theory from Seoul National University, and his master’s and PhD degrees in Ethnomusicology from the University of Washington.

 

Among his other honors, Lee was the recipient of the Nangye Akhak Taesang (Nangye Award for Achievement in Korean Music Research) in 2007, and was recognized and honored as one of the 85 “Proud Koreans Abroad” by the Seoul Metropolitan Government at the 50th Anniversary of Korean Independence in 1995.

 

The award ceremony will be held on November 15, 2011, at the Grand Hotel in Pusan. The Foundation has invited Lee to present a keynote speech during the award ceremony.