Dr. Joopoong Kim Bio
Joopoong Kim is a Korean composer, and currently, he serves as a Professor of Electronic and Digital Music at the Kyonggi University in Seoul, Korea where he also chairs the graduate program on music therapy. As a composer, academic, and educator, Dr. Kim focuses his efforts on manifold genre of musical arts including orchestral, ensemble, chamber music, and most prominently, modern and digital music. Further, Dr. Kim has made significant contributions to the development of the composition technique, “Configuration Music,” for which he received the Korean Music Award in 2010 from the Korean Society of Composers for his work.
Dr. Kim began his lifelong journey in the creative field of music composition at Hanyang University in Seoul where he graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in Music Composition in 1982. He then pursued his graduate degree in Music Composition Theory at Hanyang University, earning his Master’s degree in Music Composition in 1990. In 1991, Dr. Kim began working toward his second Master’degree of Music in Composition at the University of Missouri-Kansas City where he was the recipient of the Special Chancellor’s Scholarship for seven consecutive years. At UMKC, Dr. Kim was a member of the UMKC Wind Ensemble where he played the clarinet, and also, in Musica Nova which performed several of his compositions. Dr. Kim completed his Doctor of Musical Arts in Music Composition in 1998 under the guidance of the late Dr. Gerald Kemner.
Dr. Kim returned to Korea in 1999, and since his return, he has maintained a prolific and dynamic professional career as a composer. Recent performances of Dr. Kim work include performances at the Daegu International Contemporary Music Festival and the Pan Music Festival in 2010, at his own Percussion Ensemble Compositional Recital in 2011, and at the 8th Vision-C Compositional Recital in 2012. This last performance was especially meaningful for Dr. Kim where two of his pieces for chorus ensemble, the “The Mu-Goong-Wha in My Heart for Acacppella” and “Forward March for Mixed Chorus,” were performed to commemorate Korea’s independence from the Japanese colonial rule in the early part of the 20th Century. Through these pieces, Dr. Kim hoped to impart the lessons of sacrifice and courage that the Independence Liberation Army has exemplified and to call on Koreans to march forward and continue the legacy in shaping Korea’s future.
In addition, Dr. Kim is also active in professional associations both in Korea and abroad through which he contributes toward the development of modern music in Korea. Currently, Dr. Kim serves as the President of the Korean Society of Visionary Composers, an organization he helped found in 2000. Further, Dr. Kim holds the position of Supervisor for the Music Association of Korea, Vice President of the Asian Composer’s League – Korea National Committee, and also, the Executive Officer of the Korean Composer’s Association, Inc.
