ⓒ SangWook Lee

Born in 1994, Taeguk Mun began playing the cello at the age of four. He first started studying cello with Young Rim Yang in Korea. He moved to New York in 2007, and attended the Juilliard School Pre-College Division as a full scholarship student of Minhye Clara Kim. He is currently attending the New England Conservatory as a full scholarship student of Laurence Lesser beginning Fall 2012.

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 a prize winner at 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 played solo performances in Korea, France, Germany, and the United States, including the Carnegie Hall, Merkin Concert Hall, and the Juilliard School in New York. He played with various orchestras around the world including Suwon Philharmonic Orchestra, Incheon Philharmonic Orchestra, Orchestre national du Capitole de Toulouse, and the Symphony Orchestra of the Hungarian Radio. In 2014, Taeguk Mun not only was invited to play at Busan International Film Festival but also has been selected to perform at the Young Artist Lunch Concert Series in the Louvre Museum in France. Recently, Taeguk Mun was invited to Budapest Spring Festival in Hungary to play solo and to 2015 Orchestra Festival in Korea to perform with Korean Symphony Orchestra. In 2016, Taeguk Mun participated in the Seoul Spring Festival of Chamber Music, the World Orchestra Festival, and the Hungary <Eaktay AHN 110th Anniversary Concert>

Taeguk Mun is supported by SungJung Cultural Foundation, Hwangjin Scholarship Committee and was selected as a “G.rium Artist” by SK Chemicals. He is a resident musician at the Kumho Art Hall in 2017, in which he is currently performing five concerts annually. Taeguk is the first recipient of Janos Starker Award, by which he receives US-based performance opportunities and scholarships. He is also a member of Ensemble Ditto since 2017.

After graduating Juilliard School Pre-College Division, he studied at the New England Conservatory in Boston with a full scholarship, cellist Laurence Lesser, and is currently studying at Ralph Kirshbaum at the University of Southern California.

Taeguk Mun plays the cello made by Giovanni Grancino in 1697 from Milan, generously on loan from Samsung Cultural Foundation of Korea.