Korean Music

Jin Hi Kim with Korean barrel drums

Korean traditional music has been evolving for over 1500 years, and it is now rapidly moving in many directions with contemporary life and influence from Western culture. A revolution of Korean music occurred in late 19th century, when two solo improvisatory music forms were created: pansori, an epic drama song and the sanjo, an instrumental masterpiece. At last, through these new solo forms, the individual soul was independently and freely explored in Korean history. This was reflected in a suppressed society for the ordinary person’s life, which was dramatically changed at this time. This improvising legacy is similar to early American jazz.

Jin Hi Kim, a renowned Korean music virtuoso, has devoted her life to introducing Korean music outside of Korea. Kim’s komungo (Korean fourth century fretted board zither) music is deeply rooted in Korean tradition and represents an evolution of the instrument into the twenty first century.

The komungo is a string instrument indigenous to Korea that originated in the fourth century. The six-stringed, fretted board zither was traditionally performed by male Confucian scholars for their meditation and was mainly used in the court music orchestra and kagok ensemble for the performance of aristocratic lyric songs. The komungo has always been the primary instrument in the court orchestra; however, it was not a solo instrument. Approximately one hundred years ago two styles of komungo sanjo, derived from Shamanistic music tradition, were improvised with a series of rhythmic cycles by Sin Kwe-dong and Han Gap-duk. This sanjo is the first and only significant komungo solo repertoire.

Jin Hi Kim on komungo

During the past twenty–five years, Kim has created pioneering compositions for komungo solo. Kim’s komungo improvisations are imbued with meditative and vivid energy that makes it mesmerizing. Ms. Kim co-designed the word’s only electric komungo. In her Komungo Meditation, Kim creates live interactive pieces for the electric komungo and MIDI computer system. Kim remains true to the Korean nature of the instrument as her solo interweaves from an ancient timeless mind to space–age blips.

Kim has created many cross-cultural compositions based on Korean traditional music. Sanjo Ecstasy, conceived by Kim, for electric komungo, kayagum, haegum, janggo, drum set and a Shaman trance dancer, was premiered at the Sanjo Festival in Jeonju, South Korea in 2003, following her appearance in the MBC-TV national broadcast of the film 100 Years of Sanjo.

Korean traditional music lectures by Jin Hi Kim have been successfully presented at over 100 universities in the USA including Wesleyan University, Cornell University, Yale University, Duke University, Indiana University, Peabody Conservatory, New England Conservatory, California Institute of the Arts, University of Minnesota, University of California San Diego, and University of Michigan. Ms. Kim was the Freeman Artist–In–Residence at Cornell University for the fall semester 2004, for which she gave a series of lectures entitled, “Korean Music in a Global Context”.

Jin Hi Kim studied and practiced Korean traditional music with masters from National School for Korean Traditional Music, which is affiliated with the Ministry of Culture. The school was established under the nation's single music institute, the prestigious National Center for Korean Traditional Performing Arts. She earned BA in Korean traditional music at Seoul National University in 1980.

In her lectures, Ms. Kim reveals the contrasts between Korean folk and court music, demonstrates the influences of Shamanistic ecstatic possession in folk music shows the influences of Taoism's middle way between the static and dynamic, and discusses the Confucian concept of right conduct, and Buddhism's meditative quest for nothingness in court music. These multi-media presentations use video, slides, CDs and live komungo demonstration.

"I was stunned by Ms. Kim's lecture presentation and her own brilliant improvising and synthesizing of Korean music performance. Her application of yin–yang theory to music dynamics both East and West was simply breath–taking. Her lecture presentation was, and I do not exaggerate, the most rewarding musical encounter I have ever had."
Prof. David Titus, Wesleyan University, Connecticut

"Ms. Kim's lecture-concert on Korean traditional music and her experimental composition is excellent and exciting . . . she introduced Korean music culturally and systematically to our American students . . . The way she led our students into the feeling, style and expression of Asian music is very persuasive." Prof. Chen Yi, University of Missouri-Kansas Conservatory

Ms. Kim will describe how each tone in Korean traditional music must be perceived as "alive, embodying its own individual shape, sound, texture, vibrato, glissando, expressive nuances and dynamics." In 1985 she created the term ‘living tones’ to describe this concept as her compositional metaphor. Over twenty years Kim has developed a series of compositions, Living Tones --the precise timbral persona of each tone generated is treated with an abiding respect, as its philosophical mandate from Buddhism, a reverence for the ‘life’ of tone, the color and nuance granted each articulation from Shamanism. Using CDs, scores, video/DVD and live komungo demonstration, Kim discusses her various cross–cultural compositions.

Critical Acclaims: Living Tones Compositions

Allan Kozinn of The New York Times wrote about Voices of Sigimse,
"A gorgeously tactile piece that moved easily between an earthy folksiness and meditative refinement."

Paul Griffiths of The Times (London) wrote about Linking, "An essay in integration which suggested a Takemitsu-like ability to hover between eastern and western traditions."

John Rockwell of The New York Times wrote about Linking, "The delicacy of her effects (and of the Kronos Quartet’s playing) were constantly riveting."

Anne Midgette of The New York Times wrote, "[Eternal Rock] moved through the orchestra like a curious outsider, wondering at the range of sounds it can make and using it as an extension of twangy vocabulary of solo komungo."

David Harrington of KRONOS Quartet wrote about Nong Rock, "Her music is inspired by the delicately textured instrumental sounds of her own country. It could never have been written by a native Californian or New Yorker. It’s exotic. It’s different. It reflects its culture in the same essential way that Beethoven’s quartet reflected his time."