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SHREVEPORT, La. (KTAL/KMSS) – An international pianist is holding a presentation on Korean music and diction, then performing in a joint recital with students at a college in Shreveport later this month.

Pianist Yeon-Kyung Kim, a native of South Korea, has nearly completed her Doctorate in Musical Arts in piano performance at Cincinnati’s College-Conservatory of Music. But in January, she is in residence at Centenary College’s Hurley School of Music.

While in residency, Kim will speak about Korean diction with the public at 4:00 p.m. on Wednesday, Jan. 24. Then, on Friday, Jan. 27, she will perform with Hurley students in a recital at 7:30 p.m. Both free events are open to the public and will take place in Anderson Auditorium on the Centenary campus.

Kim won her first musical prize at the Seoul Art Concours, where she was one of the initial members of Quartet Y. Her coaches include Kenneth Griffiths, Ann Epperson, and Amy Cheng. She has attended masterclasses by John O’Conor, Andre Watts, Peter Takacs, and Warren Jones.

An advocate for performing arts and young artists, Kim founded a non-profit music organization called Glow Music, which highlights songs from Eastern languages. As a graduate assistant, Kim is passionate about teaching group piano and private lessons.

Kim performs regularly as a chamber musician and solo pianist in Western Illinois, Eastern Iowa, and Cincinnati, Ohio, as well as several locations in Indiana, Detroit and Ann Arbor, Michigan, and Seoul, South Korea. She was previously the rehearsal pianist at the University of Cincinnati’s College-Conservatory of Music Opera and is now the staff pianist at Western Illinois University.

“There is a wealth of art songs and chamber music by Korean composers that are beginning to be performed more often, and I think this is a wonderful way for our students to be immersed in music from a culture they may not have had much contact with,” Dr. Janani Sridhar, a Hurley School of Music assistant professor, said in a press release. “Our students have had a wonderful time learning to sing in a language they have not sung in before and are excitedly exploring this new soundscape.”

Sridhar believes the audience in Shreveport will enjoy the Korean music in the concert on Jan. 27.

“I’m excited for the students and community to have the chance to experience this incredible canon of music,” he said.