Korean-born cellist Seul Pearl Jung has established herself as one of South Africa’s leading young cellists. With extensive experience as a soloist, chamber musician, and orchestral performer in South Africa, she has built a distinguished performance career from an early age. At the age of 17, she made her concerto debut with the Cape Town Philharmonic Youth Orchestra at the Artscape Theatre. More recently, she was selected as a featured soloist with the Cape Town Philharmonic Orchestra, performing at the NG Kerk in Franschhoek. These appearances reflect her continued artistic development and growing presence on South Africa’s classical music scene. An active orchestral musician since the age of 16, Seul has performed regularly with the Cape Town Philharmonic Orchestra (CPO) as both a tutti player and soloist. Her experience as soloist also includes performances with the KwaZulu-Natal Philharmonic Orchestra, UCT Symphony Orchestra, and Cape Town Philharmonic Youth Orchestra. As a member of the MIAGI Orchestra, she toured Europe, performing in some of its most prestigious concert halls, including the Berlin Philharmonie, Royal Concertgebouw, Alte Oper Frankfurt, Musikhalle Ludwigsburg, Schlossfestspiele, and the Royal Palace of Sweden. As part of the African United Youth Orchestra, she performed at Carnegie Hall during World Orchestra Week in New York City, sharing the stage with Maestro Gustavo Dudamel. A passionate chamber musician, Seul has performed extensively in chamber ensembles throughout her career. She participated in the Stellenbosch International Chamber Music Festival (SICMF), where she performed as a member of the UCT Piano Quartet. At the age of 19, her Shostakovich Piano Trio won the UCT Schock Chamber Music Competition and her UCT Piano Quartet placed second. Having reached the final of the competition on three occasions during her studies, she went on to win the competition twice with different ensembles. She later won first prize with the Hofmeyr String Quartet and the overall prize with the Bokamosho String Quartet at the Stellenbosch Ensemble Competition. Her achievements also include winning the Fish Hoek Music Bursary Competition, reaching the semi-finals of the UCT String Competition, where she received the Jury Award, and being selected as a featured soloist for the Franschhoek Chamber Music Festival in 2025. Committed to continual artistic development, Seul has participated in masterclasses with internationally renowned musicians including Maria Kliegel, Erich Heuter, Alexander Baillie, Sæunn Thorsteinsdóttir, Luka Coetzee, Torleif Thedéen, Paolo Bonomini, Matthias Johansen, Niklas Eppinger, and Kilian Fröhlich. Seul is currently pursuing a Master of Music in Performance at the LUCA School of Arts in Belgium. As a member of the Orfeo Orchestra, she recently performed at the Queen Elisabeth Hall and BOZAR. She previously completed her Honours degree and Postgraduate Diploma at the University of Cape Town under Graham du Plessis, following her Bachelor of Music studies with Marian Lewin and Kristian Chernev. She began her cello studies at Beau Soleil Music School with Cheryl de Havilland. Alongside her performing career, Seul is a dedicated cello teacher with several years of teaching experience. From 2016 to 2025, she taught at St Cyprian’s Girls’ School, Rustenburg Girls’ Primary School, and Rondebosch Boys’ High School, working with students of a wide range of ages and abilities. Through structured lessons and performance preparation, she has helped young cellists develop technical proficiency, musical understanding, and confidence as performers.
She has been a student of Fondazione Accademia di Musica since 2026.
