Jeonghyeon Joo is an award-winning haegeum performer, composer, improviser, and researcher who is an ardent advocate for new and experimental music. Joo draws a narrative through an exploration of a somatic, corporeal relationship between instrument and body. Also, her compositions frequently borrow a specific musical or sociocultural concept from Korean traditional music.
As an authentic Korean traditional musician, Joo has mastered classical and folk repertoires of Korean art music and won prestigious awards for her outstanding artistic achievements in haegeum including the Presidential Award of Korea (2012), First Prize at KBS Korean Music Competition (2014), Grand Prize (Award from Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism) at Jeonju-daesaseup Traditional Music Competition (2011), and Silver Prize at Dong-A Korean Music Competition (2012).
Recently, Joo's projects have been supported by Arts Council Korea and Seoul Foundation for Arts and Culture. Joo has frequently given lectures and presented her works at notable conferences and institutions such as the International Computer Music Conference, New York City Electroacoustic Music Festival, Korean Music Educators Society Annual Conference, Seoul National University, San Francisco State University, University of California-Riverside, San Diego State University, and Korean Cultural Center Los Angeles. She received a Master of Arts and Bachelor of Music from Seoul National University with a research focus on the development of contemporary études for the haegeum and is currently pursuing a DMA at California Institute of the Arts. She is on faculty at California Institute of the Arts and Seoul Institute of the Arts.