Kristen Yeon-Ji Yun: ‘Embracing AI Technology in Music Performance’

Kristen Yeon-Ji Yun, clinical associate professor of music in the College of Liberal Arts, presented “Embracing AI Technology in Music Performance” at the Westwood Lecture Series on April 17.

Abstract. Artificial intelligence has demonstrated impressive progress in music. Generative AI can compose new music when preferred styles and genres are entered. As a string music performer, Yun has been exploring possibilities for taking advantage of the emerging AI technology in music performance. In this lecture, Yun will introduce three of her current projects which examine AI’s ability to create a more immersive sensory experience, transform how music performers practice and illustrate the advancement of robot technology through the incorporation of musicians’ performance movements.

Bio. Kristen Yeon-Ji Yun, clinical associate professor of music in the College of Liberal Arts, is active as a soloist, chamber musician, musical scholar and clinician. Her CD “Summerland — Music for Cello and Piano by Composers of African Descent” received positive reviews from New Classics UK and American Record Guide. It was broadcast nationwide by radio stations such as WQXR, WCNY, WBAA and NPR’s Sonatas and Soundscapes. Her dynamic career includes receiving a grant from the National Science Foundation for the project “Artificial Intelligence Technology for Future Music Performers.”

Before joining Purdue, Yun was an associate professor of lower strings at Colorado Mesa University, a principal cello in Grand Junction Symphony Orchestra, and member of the Lafayette and Korean symphony orchestras.

Yun performs on a French cello made by Louis Guersan in 1766.