Podcast - Deon Lee
David Fogel Interviews Composer
Deon Lee
Deon Lee is a South Korean-born composer who spent his early years in Tokyo. After moving to Los Angeles, he assisted Golden Globe-nominated composer Christopher Young on scores for Hollywood productions such as The Monkey King (starring Donnie Yen) and Tyler Perry’s films; with Emmy-winning composer Velton Ray Bunch on the television movie The Tenth Circle; and Annie Award-nominated Austrian composer Gregor Narholz on advertisement and library music for Sonoton Music, based in Germany. He scored the feature films 1895 and Papa, both enjoying nationwide theatrical releases overseas, as well as various shorts screened at festivals worldwide. Recently, he scored an independent Japanese co-production feature film, currently circulating at international film festivals as of 2025, earning a nomination for its score at the International Sound & Film Music Festival in Croatia.
His music conveys drama through simplicity and lyrical melodies that are deeply emotive and introspective. Embracing diversity, he crafts compelling musical storytelling that enhances a film’s vision and resonates with broad audiences. He frequently incorporates violin, piano, and cello into his scores. Lately, he has been exploring creative ways to blend orchestral instruments with analog synthesizers and Eurorack modules in his compositional approach.
He earned a Best Music nomination at the International Fashion Film Awards during the world’s largest gathering of fashion filmmakers for his music for the experimental dance film Lilith. In 2021, he was nominated at the Hollywood Music in Media Awards for his original score for the mystery drama Only Child, for which he also won a Global Music Award. He contributed to the Grammy-winning album Triveni, which received Best New Age, Ambient, or Chant Album at the 67th GRAMMY® Awards. His music is under consideration for the 2026 GRAMMY® Awards for a minimalist duo project with acclaimed cellist Tina Guo.
Deon is a graduate of Berklee College of Music and the USC Thornton Screen Scoring program. He is currently based in Los Angeles.
Please enjoy this long-format conversation between David Fogel (CEO, The Symphonina Foundation) and Deon.