Kyong Mee Choi

About Me

Dr. Choi, composer, organist, painter, and visual artist, received several prestigious awards including John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation Fellowship, Robert Helps Prize, Aaron Copland Award, John Donald Robb Musical Trust Fund Commission, Illinois Arts Council Fellowship, First prize of ASCAP/SEAMUS Award, First Prize for the Birmingham Arts Music Alliance Concert Exchange program, Second prize at VI Concurso Internacional de Música Eletroacústica de São Paulo, Winner of the Tempus Continuum Ensemble Composition Competition, Mention for Musique et d’Art Sonore Electroacoustiques de Bourges, Honorary prize for the Musica Nova by the Society of Electroacoustic Music of Czech Republic, Honorable Mention for the Luigi Russolo International Competition, Honorary mention in the Destellos Competition, Finalist of the Contest for the International Contemporary Music Contest "Citta' di Udine, Finalist for Concurso Internacional de Composicai eletroacoustica in Brazil among others.

Her music was published at CIMESP (São Paulo, Brazil), SCI, EMS, ERM media, SEAMUS, and Détonants Voyages (Studio Forum, France). Ravello records published her multimedia opera, THE ETERNAL TAO, which was supported by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation Fellowship and Roosevelt University. Aucourant Records published her CD, SORI, featuring her eight compositions for solo instrument and electronics. The project was supported by the IAS Artist Project Grant from the Illinois Arts Council.

Her compositions have been performed at international venues including the Concurso Internacional de Música Eletroacústica de São Paulo, Australasian Computer Music Conference, Musique et d’Art Sonore Electroacoustiques de Bourges, Musica Contemporanea in Ecuador, Luigi Russolo International Electroacoustic Concert in Italy, International Computer Music Conference, Electroacoustic Musical Festival in Santiago de Chile, EPTA-European Piano Teachers’ Association Conference in Dusseldorf, Germany, Piano 40 Concert in London, England, Con Brio in Mumbai, India, as well as conferences and festivals in the States such as Society for Electro-Acoustic Music in the United States, Society of Composers, Inc., College of Music Society, International Alliance for Women in Music, Electronic Music Midwest, Boston New Music Initiative, Electro-Acoustic Barn Dance, Third Practice Festival among others.

Dr. Choi received a D.M.A. at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, a M.M. in Music Composition at Georgia State University and a B.S. in chemistry and science education at Ewha Womans University and studied Korean literature in a master’s program at Seoul National University in South Korea. Her teachers include  Erik Lund, Robert Thompson, and Scott Wyatt.

Dr. Choi’s core values as an educator are self-acceptance, self-discipline, and respect for others. Embracing these core values leads to benefits such as originality (from self-acceptance), resilience and persistence (from self-discipline) and professionalism and personal responsibility (from respecting others.) These core values are manifested in her approach to education. Dr. Choi’s open-mindedness, positive attitude, and enthusiasm create an environment for students to feel comfortable expressing their own ideas, building their self-acceptance and self-trust. This also makes the learning environment enjoyable and inspiring.