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Ji Weon Ryu
Education:
Masters of Music, Orchestral Performance – Manhattan School of Music
Bachelor of Music and Accelerated Master of Music – The Juilliard School
Admired for her “pure poetry” and “beautiful technique and sound” (NFA Chronicle), Ji Weon Ryu is one of the most versatile flutists of her generation. Appointed Principal Flute of the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra by Carlos Miguel Prieto in 2019, she became the first Asian musician to join the orchestra’s wind section.
She has frequently performed with the New York Philharmonic as a guest flutist and other distinguished ensembles in and around New York, including the Albany, Chautauqua, Princeton, and Syracuse Symphonies, as well as the Jupiter Symphony Chamber Players and the Manhattan Chamber Players. As a concerto soloist, she has appeared with the Seoul Philharmonic and the Louisiana Philharmonic. Her festival credits as Principal Flute include the Verbier, Tanglewood, Britt, and Seoul Arts Center Festival Orchestras, as well as BBC Proms Korea.
Ji Weon has also built an active career as a soloist and chamber musician. She has won First Prize at the Artur Balsam Duo Competition, the Flute Society of Greater Philadelphia Competition, the New York Flute Club Competition, the National Flute Association Soloists Competition, with a special prize for the Best Performance of the Newly Commissioned Piece, and the Silver Medal at the Vienna International Music Competition. In the 2025-2026 season, Ji Weon will be the first local recitalist to be featured by the prestigious Friends of Music New Orleans.
Her chamber music collaborations are equally notable. She is a founding member of Frisson—an “explosive” New York City-based nonet—with which she has toured more than 20 cities across the U.S. annually and has been featured on NPR’s Performance Today. She is also a co-founder of Ensemble Blank, a group that explores new sounds in unconventional venues.
As a recording artist, Ji Weon has earned wide recognition. Her recent recording of Debussy’s Afternoon of a Faun (arranged for octet), released by Delos Productions, has garnered critical acclaim for her “coiling flute,” “seductively spun” interpretation, “gorgeous,” “buoyant flute,” and “enchanting lyricism.”
In addition to her stage performances, Ji Weon is dedicated to teaching. She served on the flute faculty during the 2022-2023 academic year at Louisiana State University and has been invited as a guest clinician at leading institutions including The Juilliard School, the Manhattan School of Music, and the National University of Tainan, among many others.
Ji Weon holds a Master of Music degree in Orchestral Performance from the Manhattan School of Music, as well as both a Bachelor of Music and an Accelerated Master of Music degree from The Juilliard School. Her principal teachers include Young Ji Song, Carol Wincenc, and Robert Langevin.
She is a Sankyo Artist and performs on a handmade 14k Sankyo Flute.
