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Hyun Kyung Lee has a dream to build up the church with her musical talent, together with a desire to serve and to teach young children in order for all to know the love and greatness of God. It is a dream that has brought her to the far side of the world from the Korean city of Seoul where she was born and raised, to the American city of Midland, Texas where she will assume the duties of organist at First Presbyterian Church.

The announcement that Lee would be coming to Midland followed a months-long search to find a replacement for longtime organist Becca Sawyer, who left earlier this year to take a position at 1st Presbyterian Church of Fort Worth. That search began with a surprise ... a long list of applications from across the United States, with more than a few that emerged from that list as good candidates.

The search narrowed, and Lee moved up that ‘short list,’ due in part to her credentials as a musician, an educator and a valued contributor to worship.

She earned her Bachelor of Music Arts (majoring in Organ) from Yonsei University in Seoul, Korea in 2003. At that point, she explains, she saw a need to broaden her grasp of music – its interpretation and its performance - through travel. She earned her Master of Music Arts degree (majoring in Organ, minoring in Harpsichord) at Elisabeth University of Music in Hiroshima, Japan in 2005. She is now a candidate for a Doctor of Music Arts degree (majoring in Organ, minoring in Sacred Music) at the University of North Texas in Denton, Texas.

During that time, she has also developed an impressive resume in the profession of music as a pianist and accompanist at middle and high schools in Korea and the United States, as a music researcher, and as a pianist and organist for churches in Korea, Japan and the United States. Her most recent positions have been Organist at First Presbyterian Church of Denton, Texas, and Accompanist at John H. Guyer High School in Denton and Tom Harpool Middle School in nearby Lantana.

Lee is not be the first in her family to step up and contribute musical talent to worship ... “My family is working as church musicians in the Presbyterian church; my mother has played organ and piano over 40 years, my sister is working as pianist over 18 years, as well. I have been an organist and pianist since 1999.”

Christian faith – and sharing Christ’s love with others - is something else that runs in Lee’s family ... “Our family has long history of faith. I have grown up in the Presbyterian family, as a fourth-generation Presbyterian. My father and grandfather have served as an elder in the Presbyterian church, South Korea.” She also shares stories of even further back, and how difficult it was for those like her grandfather’s father, to be a Christian.

That determination has carried through the generations and across the ocean to Midland, Texas, where Lee is now preparing to settle into a new position and a new home with her husband Hyung Wook Lee, who is also a UNT alum, with a Master’s Degree in Business Administration, with a special emphasis on Accounting.

Lee admits to being more than just a little excited by the opportunities that lie ahead, by the chance to spend more time with the exceptional organ at First Presbyterian-Midland, to contribute her skills and her energy to worship, to explore means for educating the next generation of keyboardists in the Tall City, and to embrace opportunities to share Christ’s love with the church and the community at-large.

For Lee, that would be a dream come true.

“I desire all aspects of lives to be lived to the glory of God and wish to be good follower under the Lordship of Jesus Christ for the purpose of sharing His love with others.”