This team works to make Korean art song (가곡) more accessible to English speakers. We have collected a large number of Korean composed song scores and are in the process of creating English translations, phoneticizations, spoken recordings of these song texts, and organizing these materials into an accessible database.
My goal is to make Korean art song more accessible to English speakers by developing translations and phonetics to aid singers and pianists in study for performance. While we continue to acquire Korean composed musical scores, we’ve amassed quite a collection already. Now we’re working to build a database about the songs’ vocal range, composer, poet, instrumentation, and if the song has an accessible recording. Using existing translations, we have built a poetic English/Korean translation dictionary. Texts need to be translated into English and historic or cultural references given footnotes with explanations. The texts need phonetics developed in the International Phonetic Alphabet, which is a common language that voice students learn. The texts need to be spoken and recorded by native speakers to create practice tracks. The team works systematically through the collection, but may also pivot at times to create materials quickly for a particular student or upcoming performance. The goal of this project is to develop materials that I can use to teach a class on Korean lyric diction and art song. I hope to eventually make our database of translations, phonetics, and spoken recordings available to the public.
Meeting Time
Wednesdays or Fridays, 4:30-6:00pm
In-person (interested in the project but unable to be on campus? Contact us to inquire!)
Phonetic Transcription (2 Students)
Preferred Skills: Knowledge of Korean, preferably a knowledge of IPA (materials exist to learn)
Likely Majors/Minors: KRSTD, LING, VOICE
Korean Poetry & Culture (Translation) (2 Students)
Preferred Skills: Knowledge of Korean language, interest in poetry and translations
Likely Majors/Minors: ASIAN, ENGLISH, HISTORY, KRSTD
Music Research (1 Student)
Preferred Skills: Ability to read music to note vocal range, conducting internet searches for existing recordings
Likely Majors/Minors: MUSICOL, PIANO, SI, VOICE
Korean Speaking (2 Students)
Preferred Skills: Native or bilingual Korean fluency, comfort creating spoken recordings, ability to read western music notation is a plus
Likely Majors/Minors: ASIAN, KRSTD
Tools Engineer (3 Students)
Preferred Skills: App building experience, knowledge of Natural Language Processing and machine learning; knowledge of Korean is necessary; preferred third, fourth, or graduate level students
Likely Majors/Minors: ASIAN, CE, CS, EE, KRSTD, LING, ME, ROB, SI
Graphic Designer (1 Student)
Preferred Skills: Knowledge about and experience with Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop; work on the team will be to design website scheme.
Likely Majors/Minors: ARTDES, SI
Data Management (1 Student)
Preferred Skills: Organizing and developing searchable web based databases and applications, interfacing with other databases and networked systems.
Likely Majors/Minors: DATA, SI
Faculty Project Lead
Matthew Thompson, joined the SMTD faculty in 2011 and is Assistant Professor of Music and Associate Faculty with the U-M Center for Japanese Studies. A passionate educator, Thompson was recently described by a former student as “giving one of the most wholesome, nerdy, epic-but-modest unicorn professor experiences you’ll ever find at U-M.” Dr. Thompson is active as both a pianist and a vocal coach. His pioneering pedagogy and research using video game music have established him as an authority in this burgeoning and interdisciplinary academic field.
Students: 12
Likely Majors/Minors: ARTDES, ASIAN, CE, CS, DATA, EE, ENGLISH, HISTORY, KRSTD, LING, MUSICOL, PAT, PIANO, SI, VOICE
Meeting Details: Wednesdays or Fridays, 4:30-6:00pm
Application: Consider including a link to your portfolio or other websites in the personal statement portion of your application to share work you would like considered as part of your submission.
Summer Opportunity: Summer research fellowships may be available for qualifying students.
Citizenship Requirements: This project is open to all students on campus.
IP/NDA: Students who successfully match to this project team will be required to sign an Intellectual Property (IP) Agreement prior to participation.
Course Substitutions: CoE Honors