Korean Choral Music Compositon: Female Dominant Field without Feminism Movement and Method to Improve the Access the South Korean Choral Music
Author: Choongwoo Steve Ko, DMA
Year: 2025
Unpublished Doctor of Musical Arts (DMA) research paper. Sole-authored. Reviewed by a five-member academic committee members.
Abstract:
Since the beginning of the twenty first century, inclusion of non-Western European and non-American choral music has become a big topic in the field of choral music. Through this inclusion movement, acknowledgement of Eastern European, African, and Asian Choral music has increased and become part of mainstream choral music. As an extension of this movement, there has been increased attention to the music of female composers. Many Western choral scholars wonder why choral composition is female-dominant in South Korea. To understand this, it is important to track the music history and the history of Korea in the twentieth century. Interestingly, the answer lies in gender discrimination and conservative gender roles in twentieth-century Korea. This research explains the development of choral music in South Korea and highlights the historic background about why and how South Korean choral music composition became female-dominant without a feminism movement. This research also introduces renowned South Korean female composers and their compositions, and includes interviews with five female composers in Generation X and Early Millennials. Those composers’ compositions are frequently performed by professional and amateur choirs in South Korea. The final aspect of the capstone project is the creation of a website, called koreanchoralmusic.com, which archives choral music of South Korean composers published in the United States, and contains performance guides for practical use by conductors.