Jin Hi Kim (Connecticut) was trained as a traditional musician in her native Korea. She came to the United States in 1980. She is a pioneer in the fusion of traditional and contemporary music in both her komungo (a six-string instrument) improvisations and her compositional activity. Kim has given solo concerts in the U.S., Canada, Belgium, Holland, Germany, and South America. She has worked with such contemporary improvisers as Elliott Sharp, Malcom Goldstein, and Henry Kaiser, and she has been commissioned to compose works for the Kronos Quartet, the California EAR Unit and other ensembles and soloists.