The Enchanted Sounds of Traditional Korean Music:
Kayagum Lecture & Demonstration
with
Grace Jong Eun Lee
Kayagum Composer and Soloist
Vancouver Community College
Vancouver, British Columbia
As part of The Korea Society’s ongoing lecture & demonstration series, Grace J.E. Lee illustrates the rich
heritage of Korean music through her mastery and knowledge of the kayagum, a 12-stringed zither. Developed
in the southern half of the Korean peninsula in the third century, the kayagum has 12 silk strings supported by
12 movable bridges that produce a clear, delicate tone ranging over two octaves. A staple of traditional Korean
music, the kayagum is related to the Chinese sheng and the Japanese koto, but its timbre and playing techniques
are unique and its scales are more elaborate.
Content and Format
This 90-minute program includes a 60-minute lecture followed by a 30-minute demonstration. In her lecture,
Lee introduces the philosophical underpinnings of Korean music as well as the rhythmic patterns that set Korean
folk music apart from its Western counterpart. She also discusses the technical aspects of the kayagum as well as
its scaling method and staff notation. During her demonstration, Lee illustrates her lecture points by playing a
sanjo, a traditional Korean improvisational form, as well as one of her own compositions entitled “Dance of
Sunrise” (1998).
About the Presenter
Grace J.E. Lee’s compositions are strongly influenced by sounds of nature that she routinely uses in her works
to convey a characteristically East Asian sense of space and emptiness. The music conveys a gentle, warm
timbre, so smooth that even the collision of tones and melodies results in harmony. Her work has been
performed at the Vancouver Art Gallery, the Canadian Society of Asian Arts, Festival Vancouver, the Society of
Composers, Authors and Music Publishers of Canada, CBC and the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra. She was
honored at the International Festival of Women in Music Today 2003 in Seoul. Lee is the first Korean to be
appointed as an associated Canadian composer at the Canadian Music Centre. Lee received a B.A. and M.A. in
music from the University of British Columbia where she majored in piano and composition. Currently, she is
teaching the kayagum and contemporary Korean music at Vancouver Community College where she also directs
and performs in the School of Music's Korean Ensemble.
Subsidized Lecture Fees
The Korea Society covers the administrative expenses of the program as well as the cost of roundtrip airfare.
Presenting institutions are required to cover the costs of one night’s lodging in a hotel, meals on the day of the
presentation and all local transportation. They also are asked to make a donation of $500 to The Korea Society
which will be used to offset the presentation fee.
For further information or to schedule a program at your institution, please contact Jennifer Kim, program
associate for the arts and Korean studies, at (212) 759-7525, ext. 309 or jennifer.ny@koreasociety.org.
Correspondence should be addressed to: The Korea Society, 950 Third Avenue, Eighth Floor, New York, NY
10022. For more information, please visit www.koreasociety.org.
The Korea Society is a private, nonprofit, nonpartisan, 501(c)(3) organization with individual
and corporate members that is dedicated solely to the promotion of greater awareness,
understanding and cooperation between the people of the United States and Korea. In pursuit of
its mission, the Society arranges programs that facilitate discussion, exchanges and research on
topics of vital interest to both countries in the areas of public policy, business, education,
intercultural relations and the arts. Funding for these programs is derived from contributions,
endowments, grants, membership dues and program fees. From its base in New York City, the
Society serves audiences across the country through its own outreach efforts and by forging
strategic alliances with counterpart organizations in other cities throughout the United States as
well as in Korea.