YoungKyoung Lee is a percussionist and educator specializing in chamber and solo performance, whose work also spans teaching and composing. She currently serves as Assistant Teaching Professor of Percussion at Ball State University, where she has taught since 2022 and directs the Ball State Percussion Group.
She holds a Doctor of Musical Arts degree from the Eastman School of Music, where she studied with the renowned percussionist, composer, and pedagogue Michael Burritt. She earned her Master of Musical Arts and Master of Music degrees at the Yale School of Music and her Bachelor of Music at the Peabody Institute of the Johns Hopkins University, studying with the celebrated marimbist and pedagogue Robert van Sice.
From 2022 to 2025, YoungKyoung co-founded and performed with 3D Percussion, a contemporary percussion trio dedicated to commissioning new works and engaging audiences through innovative, cross-disciplinary performance. The ensemble toured nationally, with residencies and concerts at institutions including Radford University, Fairmont State University, Furman University, Buffalo State University, and the MFA (Music For All) Ignite Music Invitational.
She has also appeared as a soloist with the Albany Symphony (Viet Cuong's Re(new)al) and the Ball State Symphony Orchestra, and performed as a guest percussionist with regional orchestras including the Fort Wayne Philharmonic, Indianapolis Chamber Orchestra, Muncie Civic Orchestra, Orchestra Indiana, and Carmel Symphony Orchestra. She has presented at the Percussive Arts Society International Convention and the Indiana Music Education Association Conference, and her compositions and arrangements include 3 Do, a percussion trio inspired by Korean drumming published by Wildlight Publications in 2025.
She has performed and recorded works by composers including Michael Burritt, Joseph Schwantner, John Psathas, David Lang, and Alejandro Viñao, and continues to commission new music for percussion.
She is a sponsored artist for Vic Firth, Inc., the Avedis Zildjian Company, Adams Instrument, and Pearl Drums, and an educator with Black Swamp Percussion.
