KIM, Eunhye

Born on October 2, 1956 in Seoul, Kim Eunhye played the piano since the age of 9. She demonstrated her musical versatility by also playing the piano, violin and viola The deep appreciation of vocal music that she developed as a child is a direct result of her father, who was a tenor in the Seoul chorus. Her impressions from concerts she attended during her years in middle and high schools naturally led the way to her composing career.

During her undergraduate years at Seoul National University, she studied with the first-generation Korean composers, Kim Sung-Tae and Kang Sukhi. Kim also learned the kayagum in the same period. While pursuing her master’s degree, she published translated version of two musical theory researches, by Adele Katz and by Bugoslav Scheffer. She also worked as a organizational writer for a music program at KBS (Korean Broadcasting System).

Kim went to France in 1986. At the Conservatoire National Superieure de Musique in Lyon, she took courses in composition and twentieth-century analysis. She completed her doctoral dissertation (in musicology) titled at the University of Paris/Sorbonne in 1996.

As has been noted by her diverse educational background, it is not surprising that external stimuli such as literature, paintings, film and Korean cosmology would play a role in the creation of many of Kim’s compositions. Recently, she has actively composed works by harmoniously mixing elements of Korea and the West utilizing Korean folk songs, traditional rhythms, performing techniques such as Nonghyun, myths, and traditional ideas.