In 2023, award-winning soprano and musician, Keri Lee Pierson, began searching for a female composer to write an opera for her International Women’s Day performance. Composer and EFSC professor, Dr. ChanJi Kim, answered the call, resulting in a musical collaboration that came to fruition in early March 2025 as part of the Timucua Arts Foundation’s Opera Festival.
“Every March, Keri celebrates women in music and arts by performing something related to women and female artists,” said Dr. Kim. “Although I composed the music and she wrote the story, we worked on the stories back and forth, developing the characters, for about 6-7 months. In summer 2024, she wrote the whole thing, and we polished it in July. Then, I did music composition for about 3-4 months, finally finishing in December 2024. It was a long journey.”
“A Zine Opera” is a one-act chamber opera that tells the stories of five women, as performed by one soprano with pianist accompaniment. Although the women in the opera are fictional, their experiences are based on real people and historical events.
“Keri would talk about her grandma and I would talk about my mom,” said Dr. Kim. “For example, one of the songs is about a woman living in the Korean War — which was my mom and my grandma’s generation.”
Although the opera touches on some serious topics, it also celebrates a range of emotional experiences pertaining to women’s history.
“When you go to an opera, there’s always a funny song, an emotional sad song, and then some kind of anger. It’s like life,” explained Dr. Kim. “For the funny song, we talk about the history of pants — when women started wearing pants because of their work.”
The creativity of the opera’s movements also extends to its production aspects, which involves not only the soprano but also the pianist.
“Because we only have one singer, I involved the pianist,” said Dr. Kim. “Pianists usually don’t sing, but I asked her, ‘Can you sing? Can you do a little bit of acting?’ And she was fine with that.”
That pianist was Sophia Cardi Bonfil, who is originally from Argentina, and soprano Keri Lee Pierson was born in America. Dr. Kim, a native of Korea, considers their work an “international music” collaboration — and a perfect way to commemorate International Women’s Day.
“We want to celebrate being women who are musicians and artists,” said Dr. Kim. “We want the audience to enjoy it and celebrate with us.”
Building a Supportive Network
Dr. Kim, who also teaches music theory and composition at EFSC’s Cocoa campus, uses her work as a composer to inspire her students. Among her many lessons is the importance of networking.
“I’m a composer, so I write music, but somebody has to perform it, right? I keep in touch with many friends from other countries who I met while completing my degree at NYU,” said Dr. Kim. “I’m also part of the Central Florida Composers Forum. They heard someone was looking for a female composer who could write an opera. That’s how I connected with Keri to create the opera for International Women’s Day. That kind of networking is really important.”
In fact, Dr. Kim’s first composition opportunities came from strong relationships built with music professors at NYU. She hopes to replicate that same student-teacher experience with her own classes at EFSC.
“The teacher felt open, and spoke to me like a peer, even though I was a student,” she explained. “I was really lucky to have a great teacher who helped me meet so many professional musicians. It’s important to have people in your music circle. When I was in New York City, I met lots of good people. I was lucky to have them play my pieces.”
Creating a Unique Compositional Style
Dr. Kim, who has composed for dance, chamber ensembles, orchestra, multimedia performances, and electroacoustic music for over twenty-five years, has had her work performed in Asia, Europe, and North America. Recently, her bass clarinet duet “La Passegiatta” was performed as part of the Duo Namaste concert series at Palazzo Collicola in Spoleto, Italy.
Dr. Kim describes her unique compositional style as “academic art music,” based on her background in music theory.
“It’s different than popular music,” she explained. “With popular music, you want to be understood right away. You want people to go, ‘Oh, that sounds like Taylor Swift!’ But that’s not me. I want to write something new. I want my audience to hear an art that’s unlike one they’ve heard before. Something different and interesting. I’m composing to celebrate my view, my life.”
Dr. Kim encourages her students to explore all types of music genres, especially ones they do not initially enjoy or listen to regularly. In doing so, they will discover their own compositional genres. For Dr. Kim, being curious about the “How?” and “Why?” behind composition helped fuel the discovery of her own style.
“I was a music composition major. My main instrument is piano,” said Dr. Kim. “As a music major, you take a couple of music theory classes where you’re analyzing music by thinking, ‘How did the composer do this? How did they think about music?’ I was always curious. This helps me write music while knowing about the history of the older techniques.”
Her piece “9 Years” for clarinet, cello, and piano captures her distinctive compositional style.
“My students hear my unique musical gestures in that piece that can be heard in other pieces I compose.”
Composing a Career in Music
For students interested in following her career path, Dr. Kim shares this advice:
“Once you know what you want to be, you’ve got to do it. Work hard, network, and you will see the light at the end of the tunnel,” she said.
Dr. Kim composes one or two pieces per year, primarily on weekends or in the summer when she teaches online classes. This gives her long periods of uninterrupted time to concentrate on her art. She empowers her students to consider their own life circumstances when deciding on their music- and composition-related goals.
“You have to find the right balance of life, work, and music” she advised. “And make choices that reflect that.”
Whatever her students’ unique goals, however, Dr. Kim believes they should all share one overarching aim in common: getting their compositions performed at a premiere.
“Like I tell my students: If you don’t have a premiere, your composition is just a piece of paper. That’s it. It’s not music.”
For Dr. Kim, the premiere is not only rewarding, it completes the compositional process.
“Every premiere is very, very amazing — seeing what you wrote finally premiere for the first time, especially when you are lucky to have a really good conductor. I enjoy having a conversation with them.”
Perhaps Dr. Kim’s proudest moment as a composer is when she spent five days working with the conductor and musicians at The University of Bucharest Symphony Orchestra in Romania as they performed her music. She considers every premiere an act of deep appreciation.
“All the musicians who put time into playing my piece — it’s an honor when they appreciate your music. It’s all about the appreciation. Every single premiere is my favorite part of composition.”
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