05/02/1994 – Republic of Korea

Born in 1994, Taeguk Mun began playing the cello at the age of four with Young Rim Yang in Korea. After moving to New York in 2007, he attended the Juilliard School Pre-College Division as a full scholarship student of Minhye Clara Kim and received the Bachelor of Music degree at the New England Conservatory as a full scholarship student of Laurence Lesser.

He has been the first prize winner of various competitions, such as 2014 Pablo Casals International Cello Competition, the Third Andre Navarra International Cello Competition, the International Competition for Young People in Oldenburg, Germany, and the Grand Prize winner of the National SungJung Music Competition in Korea. He was also laureate of the 16th International Tchaikovsky Competition, the 2010 Irving M. Klein International String Competition, and the 6th International Tchaikovsky Competition for Young Musicians.

Starting with Kumho Prodigy Concert in 2004 and his solo recital at Gyeonggi Arts Center in 2006, Taeguk Mun has been performing throughout, primarily in Korea and the United States. He has collaborated with various orchestras around the world including St. Petersburg Academic Philharmonia, Hungarian Radio Symphony, Orchestre national du Capitole de Toulouse, Suwon Philharmonic Orchestra, and Korean Symphony Orchestra. Mun has been invited to various musical events such as Busan International Music Festival, Young Artist Lunch Concert Series at the Louvre Museum, France, Budapest Spring Festival, Seoul Spring Festival of Chamber Music, the World Orchestra Festival in Korea, and in Hungary.

Taeguk Mun is sponsored by SungJung Cultural Foundation, Hwangjin Scholarship Committee and was selected as a “G.rium Artist” by SK Chemicals of Korea. He was the artist in residence at the Kumho Art Hall in 2017. Mun also has been awarded the Nanpa Musician’s Award in Korea in 2019 and the first Janos Starker Award in 2016. In 2019, his debut album released from Warner International Classics label.

Mun is currently studying with Ralph Kirshbaum at the University of Southern California as a full scholarship student where he also finished the Master of Music degree.

Taeguk Mun plays on Giovanni Grancino, 1697, Milan, generously on loan by Samsung Cultural Foundation of Korea.