Ji Youn Kang (*1977) is a composer and sound artist. She studied composition at Chu-Gye University of Arts in South Korea before moving to the Netherlands, where she earned her Master’s degrees in Sonology at the Royal Conservatoire The Hague and in Composition at the Conservatorium van Amsterdam. Her musical work is often inspired by Korean shamanistic rituals. Many of these pieces are composed specifically for performance with Wave Field Synthesis, through which she explores the relationship between musical and physical space. She also creates works for live electronics in combination with both traditional and non-traditional instruments — ranging from solo pieces to large orchestral works — often rooted in the raw, empowering rhythmic elements and noisy textures of Korean ritual music. She also performs as a solo artist.
Her work has been presented at numerous venues and festivals, including La Biennale di Venezia (IT), Gaudeamus Muziekweek (NL), Internationales Musikinstitut Darmstadt (IMD), Time of Music (FI), Sonic Acts (NL), STRP (NL), SICMF (KR), Sonar (ES), Synthèse (FR), TodaysArt (NL), MISO (PT), Audiopolis (ES), and Festival de Música (ES).