Vocalist • Composer
June Yun, is an up-and-coming vocalist • composer based in New York. Yun was born in South Korea and moved to the U.K. when she was five and spent her childhood in London. She was introduced to classical music by her father, an architect who loved music and influenced her to listen and appreciate music. After moving back to South Korea, she explored other genres in music such as pop, R&B and Soul. Yun went to a music college in Korea and developed skills in song-writing (mainly pop and R&B) and lyric writing. She also worked as a co-producer & administrative director for Avenue D&F Productions during this time.
After graduating from college, Yun released a collaboration project debut single with a famous Korean singer from the 90s, Seunghwa Park. The whole project was sponsored by KBS, the biggest national broadcasting TV & Radio channel in Korea. After the release, she received many calls from record labels in Korea but she thought there was something missing in herself and her music so she moved to NYC to learn jazz, a new concept. Yun has explored and built up her own repertoire in jazz and composed originals, mostly influenced by traditional and modern jazz, free jazz and her very first music influence, classical music.
June Yun has studied and performed with some of the most influential musicians including Jean Baylor, Theo Bleckmann, Shai Maestro, Joel Ross, Ingrid Jensen, Amy London, Mike Moreno, Jeremy Manasia and Dr. Richard Harper. She has been performing and teaching a wide range of music including her original music, traditional and modern jazz, contemporary pop and R&B, K-pop, classical music, Korean traditional music, film music, and musical theater. Yun has performed at some of the most well-known jazz clubs and halls in NYC including Dizzy’s Jazz at Lincoln Center, Smalls Jazz club, John Tishman Auditorium, Mercury Lounge, and more. Yun currently holds a BFA degree with honors from the New School for Jazz and Contemporary music, and has recently received her Masters degree from Manhattan School of Music. Yun has also studied music education during her studies at Manhattan School of musicand has been teaching music for 8 years. Her passion in teaching and commitment towards music education has made many of her students grow.
Her compositional debut album, “Enlightenment - Solid Waves” was released on October 27th, 2023. The album includes a total of 8 original pieces composed and arranged by Yun. She invited Shai Maestro (piano), Kanoa Mendenhall (bass), Jongkuk Kim (drums), Vid Jamnik (vibraphone), Brad Kang (guitar) and Nicola Caminiti (alto sax) to be on board.
“Similar to one’s feelings and thoughts, the meaning and emotions that people have towards Light and Dark is very personal and it is very difficult to accurately understand and translate directly. Light and Dark coexists. Light and dark do not stay in one place, it flows and circulates as time passes. The compositions in this album picture these various abstract forms of light and dark within the scope that I built. This project started as a study towards finding the many feelings and thoughts that were lost and couldn’t be described due to the fast moving society that we live in. Wanting to live with awareness, I took time to find myself, my feelings and thoughts and built a palette. This album is to remind myself to be present and aware, and to remind myself of this journey I took to learn how to do so.
A lot of the "light" aspects that I talk about relate to the people and community around me and how their bright energy helped me recover from any darkness I had faced in the past. Without you, this music cannot exist. I am truly grateful to all the people in my life who have been there for me. This music is for you.”
Prior to releasing the full length album in October, she released “Light Cycle” (track 8) and “Light In Your Eyes” (track 7) to meet her audience and announce her debut. More about June Yun, her music, upcoming dates for her tour can be found on her website (juneyunmusic.com) or on her social media (@the.juney.effect).
