We Are Here for tenor saxophone, electric guitar, percussion and piano (2021)

Gravity-Levity for bassoon solo (2022)

Equal magnitude for fl, cl, perc, pn, vn and vc (2023)

Ensemble Ipse
Matt Ward, conductor
Margaret Lancaster, flute
Christa Van Alstine, clarinet
Molly Morkoski, piano
Colleen Bernstein, percussion
Esther Noh, violin
Caleb van der Swaagh, cello

Equal Magnitude (2023)

Percée is a reflection on the time in my life that I went through the “soundless” years. The loud, chaotic, and disorderly improvisation elements in the piece are ongoing themes throughout the work. In those chaotic sections, there exists moments of void, meaningless sound, and silence; which sometimes attempt to stop the chaos.  
Well organized segments of silence, on the other hand, provide refreshing moment to the audience in the midst of the chaos. In A traditional sense, in classical music, silence appears to be perceived as an awkward/boring moment for the audience, or functions as a moment of tension, rather than evoking a feeling of curiosity and beauty.  In that sense, I wanted to explore silence as a musical material that can have various meanings and expressive qualities through many variations of its use. I also wanted to challenge the audience to stretch their capacity to perceive silence as an organized idea rather than just an accident or a meaningless happening.
A few years ago, I composed “Sound of Soundless” for the victims of the Sewol ferry tragedy; which was premiered in Seoul, Korea by the violinist Eun Moo Heo and Ensemble Pan. In “Sound of Soundless” I wanted to express that, although the surface of the sea where the ferry sank was placid and tranquil after being submerged, I could feel the victims that were buried deep down in the sea. I felt the massive sound of mourning from their muted souls, speaking loudly for help to reveal the truth of the tragedy.
Percée, in the same sense, has a great emphasis on the metaphorical meaning of silence. Silence (or a moment of soundlessness) can speak louder than sound.
As listeners hear this piece, I hope they will have an opportunity to encounter a moment of silence in their inner-world and experience a refreshing moment of breakthrough(percée) that comes within.

Percée for fl, cl in Bb, trb, perc, pn, vn, and vc (2018)

The Other Untold Story for flute, bass clarinet, piano, violin and viola (2019)

Red- blue- very white for flute, clarinet and piano (2019)

Collocation was composed in collaboration with percussionist Josh Perry. With aims to blur traditional thoughts of timbre, the work tries to re-collate the standard conjugation of percussion sounds.

Seong Ae Kim

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