Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Date of Degree

9-2026

Document Type

Doctoral Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Musical Arts

Program

Music

Advisor

Yayoi Everett

Committee Members

Steven Everett

Jung-Min Mina Lee

David Schober

Subject Categories

Music Performance

Keywords

musical hybridity, Korean traditional music, diasporic music, cello performance

Abstract

This dissertation follows my personal exploration of solo cello works by Korean diasporic composers Isang Yun and Younghi Pagh-Paan. While the study of postwar Korean music has long been discussed within an “East meets West” framework, my research aims to abandon such divisive binaries and explores the activity between two musical cultures during learning and performance. By engaging with a wide network of meaning (e.g., score-based, extra-musical knowledge, historical context), I track cumulative layers of discovery while considering a multitude influences from Korean and Austro-Germanic cultures as a second-generation Korean American. My methodology includes a reflective approach categorized in two levels, showing my dual perspectives learning hybridized works as a Korean American and a classically-trained cellist.

Chapter 1 begins with an introduction to my habitus of listening, my own musical and cultural upbringing. Chapter 2 examines the two composers in dialogue with each other, comparing their musical educations and influences from their families, and reception history. Chapter 3 delves into analysis of the first case study: Isang Yun’s Glissées pour violoncelle seul (1970). Chapter 4 explores the second case study: Younghi Pagh-Paan’s AA-GA I (1984). A short epilogue follows the case studies, concluding my self-research on performing hybridity.

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