Kristine Jieun Lee is a composer, lyricist, pianist, and arranger based in New York and South Korea. Her work encompasses musical theatre, classical concert music, film scoring, and interdisciplinary performance. With a rigorous foundation in classical composition and a strong commitment to narrative-driven music, Kristine is recognized for creating emotionally compelling, stylistically versatile, and artistically refined works across a wide range of genres.

Inspired by her aunt, a renowned opera singer in South Korea, Kristine was immersed in music from an early age. She began studying the violin and piano at the age of three. At nine, she won 1st Prize at the 11th Korea National Student Music Competition, marking the beginning of her musical journey, and by ten, she was already composing original works.

She studied classical composition at Gyeongbuk Arts High School, where she was awarded 1st Prize in Composition at the 2013 Busan Music Association Competition. She earned her Bachelor of Music in Composition from the Korean National University of Arts in 2019, and later her Master of Fine Arts in Musical Theatre Writing from NYU Tisch School of the Arts. Kristine is currently in her second year at the prestigious BMI Lehman Engel Musical Theatre Workshop, where her 10-minute musical Séance was showcased in 2024. Her original full-length musical Pride and Prejudice will be showcased in New York City in May 2025.

Kristine has composed extensively for orchestra, chamber ensembles, and dance. Her orchestral works blend classical and contemporary influences, often shaped by impressionistic textures and narrative-driven structures. Notable pieces include Pompeii Tango for Dance, commissioned by the NYU Tisch Dance Program and premiered in New York in 2022, and The Dew of the Calm Lake, a harp concerto that won an award at the Classic Composition Competition commemorating the 1st Anniversary of the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics.

As a vocal composer, Kristine is especially drawn to the expressive power of the human voice. Her Korean art song Hol-mang (Ecstatic Longing) won 1st Prize at the 2022 Hwacheon Bimok Art Song Competition and has been performed more than 20 times in both South Korea and the United States. Her song A Song for Farewell won 2nd prize at the Seil Korean Art Song Competition in 2019. Her choral work, Your Silence, which was commissioned to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the Korean Independence Movement, premiered in 2019. She has also been commissioned to write for vocalists from Juilliard, Mannes, Manhattan School of Music, and Indiana University.

Kristine’s work in film includes the score for the short film Joan, where she served as both composer and music director. The film received recognition from the Asiana Short Film Festival Cinecube, was selected for the Wide Angle Korean Short Story Competition at the Busan International Film Festival, and was named a finalist at the Blue Dragon Film Awards.