Serra Miyeun Hwang
American composer (born 1962)
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Serra Miyeun Hwang (born 1962) is an American composer. Her work uses elements of Korean folk music.[2] She is also a percussionist, playing Korean drums.[3]
Biography
Hwang was born in Seoul, South Korea and emigrated to the United States as a teen.[4] In 1988, she was the composer who won the University of Michigan's Concerto Competition.[5] Hwang was also the winner of the 1992 Search for New Music Competition sponsored by the International Alliance for Women in Music (IAWM).[6] Hwang did her undergraduate work at the University of California, Santa Barbara.[7] In 1993, she earned her PhD in Musical Arts in Musical Composition, along with a minor in ethnomusicology from the University of Michigan.[8] After finishing her degrees, she spent time in London and in Jeonju as an adjunct professor at Jeonju University.[1][9]
Work
Hwang's work incorporates both drums and folk music from Korea in her compositions.[10] Her work on Beckoning (2012) "augments solo cello with Korean drums to evoke memories of her childhood in Seoul, Korea."[11] Her piece, Sojourn (2004), uses traditional Korean drum rhythms and the piano.[12] Chan E. Park in The World of Music, describes Hwang's compositions as "liberating" both Western-style music and the folk sounds of Korean kugak into something that becomes "'fresh music for foreigners' while 'returning to roots' by honoring past traditions."[13]