Yeji Kim is a haegeum performer, improviser, composer, and researcher. Building a unique musical world that bridges tradition and modernity, she earned her Bachelor’s degree in Korean Traditional Music at Dankook University and a Master’s degree in Korean Instrumental Music at Seoul National University. From 2019 to 2024, she was a full-time member of the Cheongju Gugak Orchestra, where she gained seven years of orchestral ensemble experience. At the same time, as a member of the electroacoustic improvisation trio Samkim (2019–present), she has developed diverse haegeum improvisation techniques and continuously explored ways of communicating with audiences through sound and sensory experience.

Her performances combine the intrinsic textures of traditional instruments with contemporary experimental practices. Critics from Beats 4 Peeps and New York Music Daily have praised her innovative approach, highlighting the seamless integration of the haegeum’s versatile timbres with electronic soundscapes. Building on this recognition, Kim has expanded her artistic scope into performance art and sound art, curating and producing sound exhibitions and performances.

At the core of her work lies the materiality of the eight traditional elements of Korean instrument-making—metal, stone, silk thread, bamboo, gourd, earth, leather, and wood (pal-eum, 八音)—and the auditory textures embodied in the haegeum. Notable works include Particles, Sound, Rhythm (2022), an 11-minute sound installation that treats the haegeum as a living body, capturing micro-vibrations from its surface through piezo pickups and reconfiguring them into new sonic structures; and Textured Desk (2022), a participatory piece designed to allow audiences to indirectly experience the process of sound recording.

Kim has collaborated with artists across diverse fields such as dance, theater, media art, architectural acoustics, and installation art, naturally extending her practice into performance curation. A representative project, Refill&Refeel (2024–present), is a sensory-immersive performance series that explores cultural identity and culinary traditions as a Korean artist. By organically connecting tea, traditional liquor, ceramics, dasik (traditional confectionery), music, and fellow artists, the project stimulates sight, hearing, smell, touch, and taste, opening new pathways to synesthetic and expanded perception.

Since 2024, Kim has broadened her international presence. She performed at London’s Barbican Centre and was selected as an Artist-in-Residence in international residency program at Art Omi, New York. She has also presented improvisatory performance at experimental music venues in Taiwan, Japan, and Berlin through collaborations with local artists. In 2025, she will give three concerts at the Festival Terres Vibrantes in Auvergne, France, embark on a Soundscape research trip to Montreal, Canada with support from ARKO, and spend three weeks as Composer-in-Residence at VCCA in Virginia, USA.

Based in Seoul, Kim is active as a soloist across Europe, the Americas, and Asia. Recently, her practice has focused on the theory of the “soundscape,” a concept and philosophy pioneered by R. Murray Schafer, deepening her research into expanded listening, auditory perception, audience experience, and performance formats. With this framework, she presented her new work Ear duct-us (2025) while continuing to pursue new musical horizons through diverse collaborative projects.

BM, Dankook University, South Korea

MM, Seoul National University, South Korea

A Study on the Acoustic Analysis of Haegeum Nonghyun: Based on Jinyangjo

SaaamKiiim Ma-chal Review of the Album, Beat for peeps, link

SaaamKiiim Ma-chal Review of the Album, Lucid Culture, link

SaaamKiiim Ma-chal Review of the Album, New York Music Daily, link

SaaamKiiim Ma-chal Review of the Album, Jazz Right Now, link

Swingby #33 Free Improvisation, curated by Yeji Kim @MusicSpacegf, Review of the Performance, Hear for you, link

SaaaKiiim Trinity Review of the album, Magazine Y, link

Contact : rkawlrdl3438@gmail.com

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