Biography
Nahyun Kim creates compositions that explore experimental concepts, guiding listeners toward new and revelatory experiences. Her works come alive with vivid colors and beautifully nuanced textures drawn from an atonal palette. Passionate about research and discovery, her music is profoundly influenced by the relationship between cognitive science, psychology, and the sense of unity created through shared musical experience.
Her works have been recognized at conferences and festivals in Finland, Austria, Poland, Greece, Spain, Ukraine, Italy, China, France, South Korea, and across the United States. She has collaborated with ensembles and soloists, including Irvine Arditti, Aleksandra Demowska-Madejska, Wojciech Psiuk, Redi Llupa, Jonathan Levin, Jessica Nilles, Bera Romairone, Minju Choi, Jenny Lin, Transient Canvas, newEar Contemporary Chamber Ensemble, MIVOS Quartet, PUBLIQuartet, Ricochet Ensemble, Bruson Quartet, The Sylvanus Ensemble, and The American Brass Quintet, among others. Dr. Kim has received awards and performances at events such as the 2019 Kaleidoscope MusArt Concert in Miami, the 2018 Abundant Silence New Works Concert in Denver, the 2014 PUBLIQ Access Showcase Concert in New York City, and the 2013 Kiev New Music Festival. Her Paradoxical Friction for bass clarinet and marimba received an ASCAP Plus Award in the concert music category, and her piano work Hypochondriasis is available for purchase through Abundant Silence. As a scholar, she presented “Development of the Original Korean Musical” at the Hawaii International Conference on Arts and Humanities.
Dr. Kim recently served as music faculty and music director at Hawkeye Community College, where she established and expanded the music program before turning her focus to new international projects. She is currently a residency composer for the precept.concept.percept XIV International Residency (Bled, Slovenia & Online), composing Chromatic Echoes for chamber ensemble, which will premiere in June 2026 during Bled Contemporary Music Week. She also serves as Composer-in-Residence for Grande Gioia Music in Seoul, where she is completing GUMIHO, an opera in two acts.
She has taught composition, music theory, musicianship, songwriting, world music, music appreciation, piano, and keyboard skills at Hawkeye Community College and Kansas City Kansas Community College, where she was a recipient of the Student’s Choice Teaching Excellence Award each semester at Hawkeye and the TEACH Award (Teaching Excellence And Colleague Honor) at KCKCC for creative and innovative work in the classroom. In addition, she has taught composition at the University of Missouri–Kansas City Conservatory of Music and Dance and music theory at the State University of New York, Stony Brook.
Dr. Kim earned her Bachelor of Arts in Music and Master of Arts in Music Theory and Composition from the State University of New York, Stony Brook, and her Doctorate in Composition from the University of Missouri–Kansas City. Her primary teachers include Chen Yi, Zhou Long, James Mobberley, Paul Rudy, and Sheila Silver. She has participated in master classes and had additional lessons with Chaya Czernowin, Zygmunt Krauze, Toshio Hosokawa, Dimitri Papageorgiou, Stefano Gervasoni, Ricardo Zohn-Muldoon, Christopher Theofanidis, Dmitri Tymoczko, Mario Garuti, Akira Nishimura, Louis Karchin, Fabien Levy, Stephen Hartke, Alvin Singleton, Christopher Rouse, Claude Baker, Paul Lansky, John Psathas, and Ezra Laderman.
Short version
Nahyun Kim creates compositions that explore experimental concepts, guiding listeners toward new and revelatory experiences. Her works, alive with vivid colors and nuanced textures from an atonal palette, have been performed internationally in Europe, Asia, and across the United States. She has collaborated with ensembles and soloists including Irvine Arditti, Jenny Lin, Transient Canvas, newEar Contemporary Chamber Ensemble, MIVOS Quartet, PUBLIQuartet, and The American Brass Quintet, among others. Dr. Kim is currently the residency composer for the precept.concept.percept XIV International Residency (Bled, Slovenia), where she is composing Chromatic Echoes for chamber ensemble, scheduled to premiere at the 2026 Bled Contemporary Music Week. She also serves as Composer-in-Residence for Grande Gioia Music in Seoul, completing GUMIHO, an opera in two acts. She has taught at Hawkeye Community College, Kansas City Kansas Community College, the University of Missouri–Kansas City Conservatory of Music and Dance, and the State University of New York, Stony Brook. Dr. Kim holds degrees from Stony Brook University and the University of Missouri–Kansas City, where she studied with Chen Yi, Zhou Long, James Mobberley, and Sheila Silver, with additional mentorship from Chaya Czernowin, Stefano Gervasoni, Christopher Theofanidis, Stephen Hartke, and others.
Nahyun Kim creates compositions that explore experimental concepts, guiding listeners toward new and revelatory experiences. Her works come alive with vivid colors and beautifully nuanced textures drawn from an atonal palette. Passionate about research and discovery, her music is profoundly influenced by the relationship between cognitive science, psychology, and the sense of unity created through shared musical experience.
Her works have been recognized at conferences and festivals in Finland, Austria, Poland, Greece, Spain, Ukraine, Italy, China, France, South Korea, and across the United States. She has collaborated with ensembles and soloists, including Irvine Arditti, Aleksandra Demowska-Madejska, Wojciech Psiuk, Redi Llupa, Jonathan Levin, Jessica Nilles, Bera Romairone, Minju Choi, Jenny Lin, Transient Canvas, newEar Contemporary Chamber Ensemble, MIVOS Quartet, PUBLIQuartet, Ricochet Ensemble, Bruson Quartet, The Sylvanus Ensemble, and The American Brass Quintet, among others. Dr. Kim has received awards and performances at events such as the 2019 Kaleidoscope MusArt Concert in Miami, the 2018 Abundant Silence New Works Concert in Denver, the 2014 PUBLIQ Access Showcase Concert in New York City, and the 2013 Kiev New Music Festival. Her Paradoxical Friction for bass clarinet and marimba received an ASCAP Plus Award in the concert music category, and her piano work Hypochondriasis is available for purchase through Abundant Silence. As a scholar, she presented “Development of the Original Korean Musical” at the Hawaii International Conference on Arts and Humanities.
Dr. Kim recently served as music faculty and music director at Hawkeye Community College, where she established and expanded the music program before turning her focus to new international projects. She is currently a residency composer for the precept.concept.percept XIV International Residency (Bled, Slovenia & Online), composing Chromatic Echoes for chamber ensemble, which will premiere in June 2026 during Bled Contemporary Music Week. She also serves as Composer-in-Residence for Grande Gioia Music in Seoul, where she is completing GUMIHO, an opera in two acts.
She has taught composition, music theory, musicianship, songwriting, world music, music appreciation, piano, and keyboard skills at Hawkeye Community College and Kansas City Kansas Community College, where she was a recipient of the Student’s Choice Teaching Excellence Award each semester at Hawkeye and the TEACH Award (Teaching Excellence And Colleague Honor) at KCKCC for creative and innovative work in the classroom. In addition, she has taught composition at the University of Missouri–Kansas City Conservatory of Music and Dance and music theory at the State University of New York, Stony Brook.
Dr. Kim earned her Bachelor of Arts in Music and Master of Arts in Music Theory and Composition from the State University of New York, Stony Brook, and her Doctorate in Composition from the University of Missouri–Kansas City. Her primary teachers include Chen Yi, Zhou Long, James Mobberley, Paul Rudy, and Sheila Silver. She has participated in master classes and had additional lessons with Chaya Czernowin, Zygmunt Krauze, Toshio Hosokawa, Dimitri Papageorgiou, Stefano Gervasoni, Ricardo Zohn-Muldoon, Christopher Theofanidis, Dmitri Tymoczko, Mario Garuti, Akira Nishimura, Louis Karchin, Fabien Levy, Stephen Hartke, Alvin Singleton, Christopher Rouse, Claude Baker, Paul Lansky, John Psathas, and Ezra Laderman.
Short version
Nahyun Kim creates compositions that explore experimental concepts, guiding listeners toward new and revelatory experiences. Her works, alive with vivid colors and nuanced textures from an atonal palette, have been performed internationally in Europe, Asia, and across the United States. She has collaborated with ensembles and soloists including Irvine Arditti, Jenny Lin, Transient Canvas, newEar Contemporary Chamber Ensemble, MIVOS Quartet, PUBLIQuartet, and The American Brass Quintet, among others. Dr. Kim is currently the residency composer for the precept.concept.percept XIV International Residency (Bled, Slovenia), where she is composing Chromatic Echoes for chamber ensemble, scheduled to premiere at the 2026 Bled Contemporary Music Week. She also serves as Composer-in-Residence for Grande Gioia Music in Seoul, completing GUMIHO, an opera in two acts. She has taught at Hawkeye Community College, Kansas City Kansas Community College, the University of Missouri–Kansas City Conservatory of Music and Dance, and the State University of New York, Stony Brook. Dr. Kim holds degrees from Stony Brook University and the University of Missouri–Kansas City, where she studied with Chen Yi, Zhou Long, James Mobberley, and Sheila Silver, with additional mentorship from Chaya Czernowin, Stefano Gervasoni, Christopher Theofanidis, Stephen Hartke, and others.
