A dream made by Seopyeonje 

Kim Ji-yeon was born prematurely in 1995, just seven months in gestation. The baby, immediately placed in an incubator, lost her vision inside it, but her mother thought it was due to her own premature birth which might have affected her eyesight.

In the third grade of middle school, she coincidentally encountered , a novel presented in braille. Reading about the joy and sorrow of the protagonist, Song-hwa, she felt as if it resonated with her own destiny. Coincidentally, Ji-yeon met Won Jin-joo, a teacher in charge of traditional Korean music at the after-school program of the Seoul National School for the Blind. Under the teacher’s guidance in Pansori, Ji-yeon became deeply engrossed in the Korean genre. She declared to her parents that she would go to college to study Pansori.

Learning Pansori 

As Ji-yeon delved into the study of Pansori, she began to see sound in a new light. Pansori consists of both 'chang' (vocalization) and 'aniri' (narrative monologue), so mastering only the vocalization isn't sufficient. What was the most challenging for her was the Pansori movements which are 'neoreum sae' and 'ballim. Neoreumsae refers to acting, and ballim is a fan technique.
Her teacher, recognizing Ji-yeon's limited sense of direction, guided her by allowing her to touch the teacher’s face with her hands and helped her memorize the positions of the tongue, lips, and various facial expressions through touch.
After such a relentless effort, Ji-yeon was admitted to the Department of Korean Traditional Music at Suwon University in 2014.

Growing as a singer (Soriggun) 

During her freshman year in college, there was a performance involving all students of the traditional music department. Ji-yeon was preparing for it in her own way, but she faced exclusion from the event for no apparent reason, which left her deeply hurt. However, instead of showing her disappointment, she resolved to build her skills steadfastly. Living with her mother in a room near the school, Ji-yeon was determined to work even harder for her mother who had supported her decision to pursue a career in music.

Soon after starting Pansori, Ji-yeon participated in a Pansori competition. She received feedback that ‘while her voice was good, her ballim, or fan technique, felt awkward.‘ Taking this criticism to heart, she underwent hundreds of times of training, eventually receiving praise for significant improvement in her ballim technique.
In 2021, Ji-yeon showed her growth as a singer by performing completely for 2 hours and 30 minutes. In 2023, she participated in a 20-hour relay performance at the 1st World Pansori Festival, demonstrating her versatility in various performance activities. She is undoubtedly a singer worthy of our attention.

Dreaming of a Pansori Musical 

After being a reserve team member of Traditional Arts Orchestra for the Visually Impaired in her third year of university, Ji-yeon was able to actively engage in performance activities. The experience of performing at Carnegie Hall, the dream stage, remains vivid in her memory. Currently, as a full member, she receives a salary which alleviates some of the guilt she feels towards her family.  

Ji-yeon harbors a dream of composing Pansori. Since Pansori is a Korean musical, it places great importance on storytelling. She feels compelled to share the story of a particular figure. Inspired by the life of Park Doo-sung, the blind scholar who invented Korean braille, Ji-yeon has long held the dream of creating a Pansori piece depicting Park Doo-sung's achievements and sharing it with audiences both domestically and internationally. As she envisions performing her creation 'Songam Park Doo-sung,' Ji-yeon continues to pursue her dream.