MUSIC News:
Yeon-Kyung Kim, from Champaign, IL, will be featured as a solo pianist at the Daytime Performance Series of the Los Alamos Arts Council at 12 p.m., Wednesday, April 2 at United Church of Los Alamos.
This recital, titled “So Poom,” highlights a collection of short musical works, known as “character pieces,” which express one or two vivid ideas or emotions. The term “so poom” comes from Korean and has a lovely, simple ring—much like the music itself.
The first part of the program features American composers, with works that capture the various stories and spirit of American life. We’ll hear Joan Tower’s powerful Sixth Fanfare for Uncommon Women, Fred Onovwerosuoke’s colorful Kaleidoscopes, and Leonard Bernstein’s Anniversaries—each piece telling its own unique story.
The second part of the concert explores themes of Night and Light. From the quiet flight of moths in Maurice Ravel’s Noctuelles to the tenderness of a parent’s goodnight kiss in Hyejung Yoon’s Sending You My Good Night Kisses, these works paint pictures of evening’s peaceful embrace. We’ll also hear Florence Price’s Flame, a dramatic, fiery depiction of light and warmth.
The program closes with a selection from Brahms, whose late piano works are known for their intimate, emotional character. In his Klavierstücke Op. 119, Brahms creates short, lyrical pieces that convey profound depth in a simple, heartfelt way.
About Pianist Yeon-Kyung Kim
Pianist Yeon-Kyung Kim is from South Korea and explores the diverse branches with her classical piano training. She regularly performs as a soloist and chamber musician throughout the U.S., and promotes underrepresented groups of composers and unusual programming. She also has been invited to solo with the CCM Wind Symphony (University of Cincinnati) for three consecutive semesters.
As a sought-after chamber musician, Kim has been featured on various recitals and coached student chamber groups at Western Illinois University, where she had served as a full-time staff pianist. She recently recorded and performed an album of horn and piano music with members of St. Louis Symphony Orchestra. She is also a founding member of the Ten Degree Trio, who brought brass and piano repertoire to recitals at Indiana University, WIU, and the Mid-North Horn Workshop at the University of Iowa. As an advocate of Korean art songs, she performed them with students at WIU and will present them at College Music Society conferences. Currently living in Champaign, IL, she works with musicians of the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and serves as a Collaborative Pianist at DePauw University at Green Castle, IN.
Kim keeps teaching online and in-person after serving as an instructor of secondary piano at University of Cincinnati. (CCM) She presents her pedagogy research at the National Conference of Keyboard Pedagogy, Music Teachers National Association Conference, and CMS, regionally and nationally.
As an advocate of performing arts and showcasing young artists to their community, Kim has founded a non-profit organization, Glow Music. Glow Music holds online collage concerts and their annual spring concert where performers, composers, and audiences connect.
Kim completed her DMA in piano performance at CCM. Her teachers include James Tocco, Aviram Reichert at Seoul National University, Christopher Harding at University of Michigan, and Emile Naoumoff at Indiana University.
