Artist

Biography

Hwayoung Shon (손화영) is a gayageum master and composer who reimagines centuries-old Korean tradition for the world stage through boundary-pushing collaborations and original compositions.

Her musical journey began at the age of three with the piano, but it was at eight, upon hearing the delicate yet powerful resonance of the gayageum, that she discovered her true calling. Just two years later, she won first place at the National Korean Traditional Music Competition, leading to her debut on KBS's New Artist Music Concert in 1986—a moment that marked the beginning of a lifelong pursuit of musical excellence.

A graduate of Seoul National University and the winner of numerous national Korean traditional music competitions, Shon has become a pioneering figure in Korean music. She performs as a soloist on prestigious stages worldwide and collaborates with symphony orchestras, chamber ensembles, jazz musicians, and world music artists, significantly expanding the gayageum's expressive range.

Her orchestral and chamber collaborations include the Santa Cruz Symphony under Music Director Daniel Stewart, the Marin Symphony, and the KAMSA Youth Orchestra. She has also collaborated with Ensemble Ari, performing works by composer Jean Ahn, and appeared as guest soloist with the Wooden Fish Ensemble at Stanford's Braun Music Center and as featured soloist at The Korea Commemorative Concert at Herbst Theatre, San Francisco.Her cross-genre work includes Fusion Soul, a collaboration with jazz saxophonist Karlton Hester and the NMK Ensemble exploring the fusion of jazz and traditional Korean music; a collaboration with erhu virtuoso Guo Gan bridging Korean and Chinese traditional string music; and a collaboration with multi-instrumentalist Vishesh Kalimero exploring Asian string traditions and vocal techniques. At StanfordLive, she joined Emmy Award-winning composer Vân-Ánh Vanessa Võ and the Blood Moon Orchestra for Harps of Asia, alongside koto and guzheng masters, at Bing Concert Hall. She has also been invited as featured soloist at events including Cantor Arts Center's Forms & Frequencies, and at the Pacific Pythagorean Music Festival at the invitation of the Del Sol Quartet. Her reach has also extended into mainstream media, contributing as a performer and cultural educator to a segment featured in TIME's Kid of the Year.

Beyond performance, she actively contributes to the broader understanding and appreciation of Korean traditional music, sharing her insights through lectures and workshops at universities and cultural institutions—including the University of California, Santa Cruz, the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, and California State University, Sacramento—and has contributed as a columnist for publications like The Korea Times (미주 한국일보) and The Hyundai News US (미주 현대뉴스), writing for "Hwayoung Shon's Gugak Stroll," "Gugak Column" and "Women's Window."

As a composer, her compositions reflect her deep connection to Korean folklore, spirituality, and history. Her composition "Ancient Traveler" was selected for Polar Sounds, a groundbreaking global sound art project by Cities and Memory, the Helmholtz Institute for Functional Marine Biodiversity, the Alfred Wegener Institute, and Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research. The work was featured in Mongabay alongside her name as composer and performer, and was subsequently featured within an interactive installation at Klimahaus Bremerhaven, Germany. Her composition Azul - Two Worlds, created in collaboration with Moroccan Akkasar music from the Pitt Rivers Museum collection, premiered in the United Kingdom. Her artistic vision extends beyond the concert stage: at the Korean Cultural Center in Washington, D.C., she presented Unfolding Koreanness—a month-and-a-half-long exhibition featuring a deconstructed gayageum installation and a continuous screening of her sanjo performance, accompanied by the simultaneous release of a publication of the same name. As a co-founder of duo, Soriga, a collaborative project featuring original compositions by Shon, she presented four world premieres - 서시 Prologue, Mugunghwa: Red Light, Green Light, 도깨비불 Will-o'-the-Wisp, and 구미호 Gumiho - alongside four new arrangements, including Gangwon-do Arirang and Sae-taryeong, all in a single program.

Shon's innovative work and artistic vision have contributed to projects that garnered international recognition from major media outlets, including BBC [UK], RTVE (Spain), Nexo Jornal (Brazil), and Mongabay [US]. Her performances have reached global audiences through major broadcast networks including KBS, MBC, EBS, BBC, RTVE, WGVU-FM, KAZU-FM, CKRL, Wave Farm, Noise Radio, and other international networks.

Shon made history as the first gayageum musician to collaborate with a K-pop artist in an improvisational duo on public broadcasting, performing alongside Jung Won-yeong of Four Seasons (봄여름가을겨울) on KBS. This pioneering collaboration showcased the instrument's remarkable adaptability in contemporary music. She also gave the world premiere of a work written for her by Laurie San Martin, a Barlow Endowment recipient, further expanding the gayageum's presence in modern concert repertoire.

Her extraordinary talent has been widely recognized. The late Seong-Chun Lee, former director of the National Gugak Center, praised her as "a once-in-a-generation talent." Through collaborations with contemporary ensembles, jazz collectives, and global music festivals, she continues to redefine the role of the gayageum in 21st-century music.

Through her ever-evolving work as a performer and composer, Hwayoung Shon not only preserves tradition but also boldly reimagines the future of Korean music on the global stage.