Eastern Florida Music Professor to Collaborate in Italy

Dr. Chan Ji Kim, an Eastern Florida State College Associate Professor of Music, will join a group of musicians this summer in Italy to compose music for a ballet opera based on Shakespeare’s The Tempest.

The opera will be performed at the Music Conservatory of Bari Performing Art Hall in Bari, Italy, July 3-4. Kim will compose the ballet’s final scene, called “This Rough Magic,” produced by an acoustic chamber ensemble.

She was invited by the Conservatory of Bari Ballet Opera to collaborate on the project with faculty members from the University of Rome, Conservatory of Bari, Italy, University of California and New York University.

“I'm thrilled about this collaboration,“ said Dr. Kim. “It will be a great event. We’re planning to have newspaper coverage for the performance and also have a TV interview in Bari. One of TV channels will broadcast parts from the opera ballet.”

The work celebrates Shakespeare’s achievements and his lasting influence over the past 400 hundred years.

Kim is also participating on a new CD project, Short Homage Postcards, with seven other composers. All the compositions are in memoriam to composers who have recently died. Her original piece, La Passeggiata, will be produced by Perugia Records in Italy. The CD will be out sometime next year.

“I always encourage my students to collaborate with other artists to share their unique ideas,” said Kim. “Artists can learn so much from each other through the collaborative process.”