DoYeon Kim w/ Special Guests Kris Davis & Tom Rainey

 

Tue, Jul 8th | 7:00 PM

Joe's Pub @THE PUBLIC THEATER

425 Lafayette Street (At Astor Place), NYC

 

Photo Credit: sofyou

 

DoYeon Kim is an internationally acclaimed artist recognized for introducing the gayageum—an ancient Korean zither—into contemporary music through a singular synthesis of Korean traditions, jazz, and improvisation. A 2025–2026 Next Jazz Legacy fellow (a program of Berklee College of Music and New Music USA), Kim performs a rare solo set joined by pianist Kris Davis and drummer Tom Rainey, with whom she shares deep improvisational chemistry. A former Van Lier Fellow and Korean Grammy nominee, Kim has performed globally with artists like Tyshawn Sorey, Peter Evans, and Cooper-Moore, and continues to redefine the boundaries of Korean music and improvisation.

 

DoYeon Kim is an internationally acclaimed artist known for her uniquely broad and deep musical approach. Traditionally trained on the gayageum (an ancient Korean zither), her work synthesizes Korean, jazz and improvisation idioms, and she is regarded worldwide for introducing the gayageum into contemporary music. Recognized as one of 7 Musicians Pushing Ancient Asian Instruments Into The Future (Grammy.com, 2021), she has received the Van Lier Fellowship (2023) and been nominated for a Korean Grammy Award (crossover category, 2018). Most recently, she was selected as a Next Jazz Legacy awardee (2025), further solidifying her presence in the contemporary jazz scene.

 

During her traditional Korean training, DoYeon won numerous international competitions (e.g. Dong-A Ilbo Traditional Music Competition; On-Nala Korean Music Competition), and later received graduate degrees from the New England Conservatory (contemporary improvisation department) and the Berklee Global Jazz Institute; in both programs, she was the first student ever admitted playing a Korean traditional instrument. DoYeon has since served on faculty at the New England Conservatory and The New School, and guest lectured at many universities worldwide, including Harvard, Franz Liszt Academy and Universidad Nacional De Colombia.

 

DoYeon regularly leads her own music projects comprising various formats (trio, quartet, quintet, large ensemble) and collaborates with numerous composers and performers. She is an invited composer for the Delirium Musicum string orchestra, and music director and conductor for the Gyeonggi Sinawi Orchestra, a traditional music orchestra in Korea. She has performed and recorded alongside many notable musicians, including Tyshawn Sorey, Mark Dresser, Kris Davis, Peter Evans, Matt Mitchell, Anna Webber, Joe Morris, Tony Malaby, Mat Maneri, Cooper-Moore, William Parker.

 

김도연은 가야금을 현대 음악의 새로운 지평으로 확장하며, 전통과 실험, 즉흥과 구조를 넘나드는 독창 적인 음악 세계를 구축해온 연주자이자 작곡가이다. 가야금의 깊은 울림을 바탕으로 한국 전통음악, 재 즈, 즉흥 음악을 유기적으로 결합하며, 기존의 경계를 허물고 새로운 표현 가능성을 탐구해 왔다. 2021 년 Grammy에서 “고대 아시아 악기의 미래를 개척하는 7인의 음악가” 중 한 명으로 선정되었으며, 2018년 한국대중음악상 크로스오버 부문 후보에 오르며 그 음악적 가치를 인정받았다. 또한, 2023년 Van Lier Fellowship 수상과 2025년 Next Jazz Legacy 아티스트 선정 등을 통해 현대 음악과 재즈 씬에서도 주목받는 연주자로 자리매김하고 있다.

 

김도연은 2014년 서울대학교 국악과를 우등 졸업하였으며, 온나라 국악경연대회 금상, 동아 국악 콩쿠르 학생부 금상 등 권위있는 콩쿠르에서 수상했다. 한국음악 전공 연주자 최초로 뉴잉글랜드음악원 즉흥음악과 석사 졸업, 전문연주자 (Graduate Diploma) 과정을 졸업했다. 이후 버클리 글로벌 재즈 인스티튜트에서 재즈를 공부했다. https://www.doyeonmusic.com

 

Doyeon Kim with Special Guests Kris Davis & Tom Rainey

Presented by Joe’s Pub at The Public Theater

 

Tuesday, July 8, 2025 at 7:00 PM (Doors Open at 6:00 PM)

Venue: Joe’s Pub at The Public Theater

(425 Lafayette Street, New York, NY 10003)

 

Tickets: $24 (inclusive of advance phone/web service fee; door price)

*There is a 2 drink or 1 food item minimum, per person, during every show at Joe’s Pub.

https://publictheater.org/performances-jp/2025/d/doyeon-kim-w-special-guests-kris-davis-tom-rainey