Whispers of the Ocean: Inside Kyungmi Anna Lee’s Platinum-Winning Cello Album “On the Sea Cliff”
- WOMCO
- 1 day ago
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Updated: 17 hours ago
Cellist Kyungmi Anna Lee from Seoul, South Korea, has been awarded the Platinum Prize at the World Grand Prix International Music Contest 2025, Season 3, for her CD album On the Sea Cliff. In addition, the music video of Breezing Cello – DYING Ocean, one of the tracks from the album, also received the Platinum Prize in the Music Video category. The competition season spanned from 28 May 2025 to 28 August 2025, with results announced in September 2025.
The EP On the Sea Cliff was released on November 4, 2024, under the Art Farm LK label. It features five original works — Thousand Years of Love, Butterfly in a Submarine, Breezing Cello – DYING Ocean, On the Sea Cliff, and Swing for New World — with a total duration of approximately 19 minutes and 40 seconds. The production credits include producers Jaechung Kim and Jieun Lee, recording and mixing/mastering engineer Choi Jung Hoon, and assistant engineer Kwon Hye Young. The album is available on Apple Music, Spotify, and YouTube.
Could you share the background of your platinum award-winning cello Album On the Sea Cliff? When and where did you record it, and how did you choose the repertoire?
Kyungmi anna LEE:
"On the Sea Cliff was recorded in 2024 in Korea, at a time when I felt a deep need to reflect on the relationship between nature and humanity. The repertoire was chosen to express both the vast beauty and the fragile voice of the sea. Each piece carries layers of lyricism and emotional depth, almost like waves touching the shore—sometimes tender, sometimes turbulent. I wanted this album to be not only a musical journey but also a statement of awareness and hope.
After the recording, about two months of post-production work followed, during which great care and effort were devoted to creating a spatialized sound for the cello. The final tracks were carefully shaped so that within the warm embrace of the cello’s tone, the emotions of the sea and its waves would resonate. Ultimately, the album was released as an immersive sound recording, allowing listeners to experience the cello as if it were surrounding them with the living voice of the ocean."
One of the pieces from your album On the Sea Cliff, titled Breezing Cello DYING Ocean, was made into an artistic music video that also won the Platinum Prize in the Music Video category. Could you share the inspiration and overall concept behind this video? Is there a story or narrative that guided its creation?
Kyungmi anna LEE:
"It was filmed last year during Chuseok, which is usually autumn in Korea. But that day was so unusually hot that the government issued a heatwave warning, a clear sign that our planet is not well. While playing my cello on the shore, the tide kept rising until the water reached my knees. Instead of feeling afraid, I felt as if the ocean itself was warmly embracing me.
We ultimately chose the West Sea, located between Korea and China, as the filming site. Ironically, this sea is known as a place where marine debris from various Asian countries accumulates. Yet at the same time, it is also home to tidal flats recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage site—an ecosystem where countless marine species coexist in organic harmony.
That moment and that location captured the essence of the project: the ocean is alive, it holds us, it loves us, but at the same time, it is suffering. Through this music video, I wanted to show both the beauty of that embrace and the urgency of listening to the ocean’s cry."
What was the production process like for your music video Breezing Cello DYING Ocean, and how did you aim to connect the music with the visual imagery?
Kyungmi anna LEE:
"The production process was a collaboration between myself, the director, and the cinematography team. We filmed on rugged coastal landscapes, around early hours of sunset, when the light could naturally reflect the emotions of the music. My aim was to let the cello’s sound guide the visuals and the bow strokes matched with the movement of waves, the resonance paired with the shifting sky. We wanted every frame to breathe with the same rhythm as the music, so the audience could feel both visually and aurally immersed in the ocean’s story."
Recording a CD is very different from live performance—it becomes a lasting artistic statement. What were the biggest artistic or technical challenges you encountered while creating Album On the Sea Cliff, and how do you hope listeners will connect with it in the digital era?
Kyungmi anna LEE:
"Due to budget constraints, I could not rent the studio for a long time, so the recording had to be completed within a very limited timeframe. The producers kept urging me to move forward quickly, which meant every note had to be delivered with precision and sincerity. In order to stay completely immersed in the music, I kept telling myself, 'I am the ocean, I am the ocean.'
Especially in the track Breezing Cello DYING Ocean, I imagined waves endlessly rising and falling, pressing the bow with intensity and then releasing it, just like the tide pushing forward and pulling back. The greatest challenge was not only technical but also deeply emotional: allowing the cello to truly breathe as if it were the sea itself.
My hope is that listeners will feel that same ebb and flow—as though they are standing on the shore, hearing the ocean’s living voice through the sound of the cello."
Would you like to share your experience participating in our competition and anyone you’d like to thank?
Kyungmi anna LEE:
"It has been an honor to participate in this competition and to share my work with such a global community of artists. I am deeply grateful to composer Jieun Lee, whose powerful music inspired this journey, and to director Jaechung Kim, who brought such vision and artistry to the music video. I also wish to thank film director Kwangheon Eom, as well as my mentors and family, whose support and guidance shaped me into the musician I am today.
I would especially like to acknowledge the support of the Korea Meccenat Association and Leaplay Music, who generously sponsored the production of this album. I extend my sincere gratitude once again for their belief in this project.
Most of all, I am thankful to the listeners who continue to give life to music through their hearts and imagination."
Biography
CELLIST KYUNG MI ANNA LEE
Praised for her profound musicianship and refined artistry, Korean-American cellist Kyung Mi Anna Lee is based in Korea while maintaining an active international career. She is the granddaughter of the late Professor Bong-Cho Jeon, a legendary master cellist who founded the Seoul Baroque Ensemble, and the daughter of the late cellist Edwin Dong Oo Lee (Professor at the University of Ulsan) and pianist Mi-Young Jeon (Professor at Korea National University of Education). Born into a distinguished musical family, she has been acclaimed for her innate musical talent and artistic sensitivity.
Lee first demonstrated her potential as a soloist during her years at Sunhwa Arts School, winning the school’s Concerto Competition and performing at the Seoul Arts Center. She later moved to the United States, where she attended Plano West Senior High School before graduating with honors from the prestigious New England Conservatory of Music. She went on to earn her master’s degree at the Yale University School of Music and completed her doctoral coursework at Boston University, further solidifying her artistry and expertise as a professional performer.
She has been recognized in numerous competitions, winning the Special Prize at the Collin County Competition, where she performed with the Plano Symphony, First Prize at the Dallas Symphonic Festival, and First Prize at the Juanita Miller Competition hosted by the Texas Symphony Orchestra. She has also been invited to perform at international festivals including the Young Artist Music Festival, Beethoven Festival, and Dallas Chamber Music International, as well as serving as principal cellist on European tours.
As a recitalist, Lee has presented annual solo recitals since 2008 at major venues such as New England Conservatory’s St. Botolph Hall and Brown Hall, Seoul Arts Center, Kumho Art Hall, Mozart Hall, Perigee Hall, and Sochun Kwun Taeho Hall. She has also appeared as a soloist with leading orchestras including the Pohang Philharmonic, Seoul National Orchestra, Ukraine Sevastopol Symphony, Chernivtsi Philharmonic Orchestra, USP Chamber Orchestra, Cheongju Symphony, Seoul Pops Orchestra, and Seoul Symphony Orchestra.
In addition to her solo career, Lee has performed as principal cellist of the NEC Sinfonietta and has been a member of renowned ensembles such as the Borromeo Quartet, Yale Cello Ensemble, and Boston Cello Ensemble. She has been invited to perform at the Connecticut University Cello Festival, the Great Mountains Music Festival, and New York’s Carnegie Hall.
She studied under distinguished teachers including Bong-Cho Jeon, Edwin Dong Oo Lee, and So-Young Jeon in Korea, and later under Jung-Shin Lim, Laurence Lesser, Aldo Parisot, and Marc Johnson in the United States, continuing the rich musical legacy of her family.
Beyond the concert stage, Lee has contributed to numerous recordings for film and television, including solo cello tracks for the OCN drama Missing Noir M (2015), the award-winning historical drama The Red Sleeve (2021), as well as film scores for Seoul’s Spring (2023) and Hidden Face (2024), where she performed as principal cellist both in recording and on screen.
As an educator, Lee has taught at the Youth & Muse Festival (Boston, USA), Korea Philharmonia Institute (Korea), the Youth & Muse International Music Festival (Chichibu, Japan), and has been a guest lecturer at Korea National University of Education, Baekseok Arts University, Sunhwa Arts School, Kaywon Middle School of Arts, Busan Arts High School, and Ulsan Arts High School. She currently serves as a full member of the Korean Chamber Orchestra (formerly Seoul Baroque Ensemble), principal cellist of the New Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra, and performs with Ensemble Ariatti, Ensemble WITH, the NEC Cello Ensemble, and the women’s group Bohemian Purple.
In 2024, Lee released her CD album On the Sea Cliff, a project that explores the profound dialogue between nature and humanity through the voice of the cello. The album received international recognition, winning the Platinum Prize at the World Grand Prix International Music Contest. Its featured music video, Breezing Cello DYING Ocean, also earned the Platinum Prize in the Music Video category, further establishing her as a visionary artist who seamlessly blends music and visual art to deliver powerful messages.