Hee Seng Kye is Associate Professor of Musicology and Director of the Music Research Center at Hanyang University in Seoul, Korea. He studied composition with Milton Babbitt at The Juilliard School (B.M.) and completed an M.A. at Queens College, City University of New York, before earning a Ph.D. in musicology from The University of Hong Kong. His research addresses music theory, analytical methodology, and the ethics of musical listening. His work is forthcoming in the BACH: Journal of the Riemenschneider Bach Institute, the Routledge Handbook on Music and Posthumanism, and other venues. He is completing a monograph on music in relation to disease, disability, and death.

What happened to this site?

On April 20, 2023, while building the website for the Musicology program at Hanyang University, I accidentally wiped out my personal site.😱 I do have a backup, but I'm not inclined to use it. I'd rather start over from scratch. No idea when that'll happen, though...🤔 In the meantime, you can find a brief profile of mine here and on the Music Research Center website at Hanyang University. I'll be back.👋

계희승은 미국 줄리아드 스쿨, 뉴욕시립대 퀸스컬리지에서 작곡을 전공하고, 홍콩대학교에서 모차르트 오페라 연구로 음악학 박사학위를 받았다. 음악이론, 분석 방법론, 음악적 청취의 윤리를 주로 연구하면서, 질병과 장애, 죽음의 음악문화사 서술에 집중하고 있다. 서울대학교, 연세대학교, 한국예술종합학교 등에서 강의했고, 한양대학교 음악연구소 전임연구원을 거쳐 현재 한양대학교 음악대학 작곡과 부교수 및 음악연구소장으로 재직 중이다. 2018년부터 매주 KBS 클래식FM 〈KBS 음악실〉 '계희승의 음악 허물기' 코너에 출연해 작품 가득한 '상상의 박물관'에서 탈출하는 데 힘쓰고 있다.

음악학 허물기에 생긴 일

2023년 4월 20일, 한양대학교 음악학 전공 홈페이지 제작 중 실수로 제 개인 사이트를 날렸습니다.😱 백업이 있기는 하지만 왠지 내키지 않아 처음부터 다시 시작하려 합니다. 그게 언제가 될지는 모르겠지만...🤔 그때까지 한양대학교 음악연구소 홈페이지에 마련된 제 간략한 프로필 통해 근황 확인하실 수 있습니다. 다시 돌아오겠습니다.👋

Hee Seng Kye, Ph.D.

Associate Professor of Musicology
College of Music, Hanyang University
Room 305, Music Hall 2 (Bldg. 403)
222 Wangsimni-ro, Seongdong-gu
Seoul, Korea 04762
hskye@hanyang.ac.kr
↓ Download CV as PDF

Academic Positions

Hanyang University
2024–present
Associate Professor, Department of Composition, College of Music
2025–present
Director, Music Research Center
2022–24
Assistant Professor of Musicology
2015–22
Full-time Researcher, Music Research Center

Education

2015
Ph.D. in Musicology
The University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam, Hong Kong
Thesis: "The Third Voice: Anima as Drama in Mozart's Operas"
Advisor: Youn Kim
2005
M.A. in Music (composition)
Queens College, The City University of New York, United States
Advisor: Jeff Nichols
2003
B.M. in Composition
The Juilliard School, New York, United States
Advisor: Milton Babbitt

Research & Teaching Interests

Transformational theory and Formenlehre Cultural history of music, disease, disability, and death Phenomenology of music/sound in opera, film, and video games Sound/scape, media culture, and sonic politics Digital humanities and AI-enhanced pedagogy

Selected Publications

Under Review
"Listening as Exposure: Illness, Involuntary Negativity, and the Limits of Aesthetic Choice." In Music and Sound in Negative Aesthetics and Metaphysics: East and West, edited by Maurice Windleburn, Keri Hui, and Jonathan W. Johnson. Edinburgh University Press.
Forthcoming
"Spirituality after Damage: Auditory Anamnesis and the Posthuman Musical Body." In Routledge Handbook in Posthuman Perspectives on Music and Spirituality, edited by Zoey Cochran and Ariane Couture.
2027
"What Do We Listen For? Bach as a Stress Test for the 'New Theory' and the Ethics of Microtheoretical Listening." BACH: Journal of the Riemenschneider Bach Institute, special issue edited by Christina Fuhrmann and Vasili Byros.
2025
"Listening in a Quarantined World During COVID-19." In Philosophy of Listening: What Do We Hear, and What Do We Not?, 173–95. Seoul: Gom Publishing.
2025
"Brave New (e)World: 'Playing' Games." In Philosophy of Listening: What Do We Hear, and What Do We Not?, 197–227. Seoul: Gom Publishing.
2023
"Open Musicology for SDGs." The Korean Journal of Arts Studies 41:33–46.
2023
"Temporalities of Mediated Sound: An Analysis of the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment's Videos" (with Kyung-Young Chung). Journal of Ewha Music Research Institute 27 (2): 145–75.
2022
"'Now, do I have to keep listening to Beethoven?' Musicologist's Response to a Rhetorical Question in The Hunt." Journal of the Science and Practice of Music 47:1–26.
2018
"Excavating the History of Electroacoustic Music in Korea, 1966–2016" (with Jongwoo Yim). Contemporary Music Review 37 (1–2): 174–87.
2017
"Benjamin Britten and the Turning Sound of the Screw, or the Turn of the Interpretation." Music Theory Forum 24 (2): 71–94.
2017
"What Did Basilio and Figaro Hear? Opera, or the Art of Overhearing." Journal of the Science and Practice of Music 38:1–33.
2017
"Vitellia's Ambivalence, Marchetti's Jouissance." Journal of Music and Theory 28 (1): 44–67.
2017
"Sesto's Anima, Vitellia's Animus: Hearing the Inner Voice in Mozart's Rondò Arias." Journal of the Musicological Society of Korea 20 (1): 71–98.
2015
"Is Figaro Really Mad at Susanna? Doing Opera Through Music Analysis." Journal of Music and Theory 25 (2): 8–34.

Selected Conference Papers

2026
"The Constancy of Music: Distorted Memory and 'Will/Can the Circle Be Unbroken' in BioShock Infinite." Ludo2026. Edge Hill University, United Kingdom. August 6–8.
2026
"Timbre as Exposure: Fragility, Proximity, and the Audibility of the Body." The 4th International Conference on Timbre. University of Montreal, Canada. July 2–4.
2026
"On-Stage, Backstage: Sonic Cartography and the Exposed Architecture of Theme Park Sound in HBO's Westworld." Sonic Cartographies: Mapping Music and Sound in Theme Parks. Royal Holloway University of London, United Kingdom. June 18–20.
2026
"Teaching Music History through Disease, Disability, and Suffering: Open-Source Collaborative Knowledge Building." 2026 Teaching Music History Conference, AMS Pedagogy Study Group. New York University. June 5–7.
2026
"Sounding Danger: Heuristics of Fear from Ottoman Drums to Digital Worlds." Listening to Fear: Music, Emotion, and Crisis in Eurasia, 1550–1750. University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna, Austria. May 6–8.
2024
"Echoes of the Otherworld: Korean Shamanic Soundscapes in Contemporary Cinema." IV International Conference Rethinking Soundscapes. University of Évora, Portugal. November 27–29.
2022
"The Waesaek Controversies, or the Sound of Modernity in Park Chan-wook's The Handmaiden." AAS 2022 Annual Conference. Honolulu, Hawai'i. March 24–27.
2021
"Hymn, Lullaby, and 'Happy Birthday': Park Chan-wook's Lady Vengeance as a Musical Commentary on Protestant Christianity in Korea." 30th AKSE Conference. La Rochelle, France. October 28–31.
2019
"Rehabilitating Gemma, or Hearing the Voices of an Empty Womb in Donizetti's Gemma di Vergy." The 5th Biennial Conference of the East Asian Regional Association of IMS. Soochow University, China. October 18–20.
2018
"The Fellowship of the Sound(tracks): How the Regalia Became a Place to Unwind in Final Fantasy XV." Music & the Moving Image XIII. New York University. May 24–27.
2017
"Soundscape of the Future in Sci-fi Film: The 'Aural' Gaze and the Dissolution of Subjectivity." 20th Quinquennial Congress of the International Musicological Society. Tokyo University of the Arts, Japan. March 19–23.
2016
"(Re)sounding the Virtual: Hearing the Voice of Hatsune Miku." Sound Art Matters, International Conference. Aarhus University, Denmark. June 1–4.

Research Projects

Full-time Researcher
2019–22
"Politics of Sound and Listening: A Critical Listening of Culture and Technology." Music Research Center, Hanyang University
2015–18
"Sound, Space, and Mobility: The Soundscape of 'in-between' Space." Music Research Center, Hanyang University
2010–13
"Study on the Neural Mechanism in the Perception of Tonality Using Magnetoencephalography." Collaborative research with MEG Center, Seoul National University Hospital. College of Music, Seoul National University, Korea

Teaching Experience

* Taught in English; † Graduate Course

2022–present
College of Music, Hanyang University Form and Analysis 1, 2*; History of Western Music 1, 3, 4*; Media and Music*; Music and Industry 4.0*; Musicology of Disease, Disability, and Suffering (core); Form in Tonal Music†; History of Western Music in the Eighteenth Century†; Music and Culture†; Music and Philosophy†; Seminar in Musicology†; Source Readings in Music History†
Adjunct
2021–22
Kookmin University, Seoul — An Analytical Methods of Piano Works†; Analysis of Music 1; Piano Seminar III†; Studies on Specific Composer of Contemporary Period†
2019–22
Seoul National University — Music Analysis 2, 3, 4; Music Theory 1, 2
2018–19
Chugye University for the Arts, Seoul — History of Western Music 1, 2; Research in Music†
2016–20
Sungshin Women's University, Seoul — Cultural Studies of Music; Field Study of Music
2016
Yonsei University, Seoul — Music of Classical Period*†; Seminar in Piano Literature I*†
2015–22
Hanyang University — Form and Analysis 1, 2; Music and Industry 4.0; Music and Culture†; Seminar in Musicology†; Source Readings in Music History†
2015
Kyungpook National University, Daegu — Seminar in Music Analysis†
2015
The University of Hong Kong — Topics in Western Music History III*

Awards & Fellowships

2025
Excellence in AI-Integrated Teaching Award, Hanyang University
2024
Excellence in Teaching Award, Hanyang University
2023
Best Teacher Award, Hanyang University
2011–12
Rayson Huang Scholarship in Music, The University of Hong Kong
2010–13
Postgraduate Studentship, The University of Hong Kong

Professional Affiliations

International Musicological Society American Musicological Society Society for Music Theory The Musicological Society of Korea Korean Society for Music Theory

Service

2025–present
Chair, Program Committee, The 9th Biennial Conference of IMSEA. Kyushu University, Fukuoka, Japan. March 5–7, 2027.
2023–present
Member, Scientific Committee, Korean Society for Music Theory
2023–25
Member, Program Committee, The 8th Biennial Conference of IMSEA. Guangxi University for the Arts, Nanning, China. September 19–21, 2025.
2023–25
Chair, External Relations Committee, The Musicological Society of Korea
2022–23
Member, Program Committee, The 7th Biennial Conference of IMSEA. Tainan Art Museum, Tainan, Taiwan. October 27–29, 2023.
2020–23
Member, Scientific Committee, The Musicological Society of Korea

Media & Public Engagement

2026
"A Musical History of the Body," bimonthly column, The Journal of Music
2018–present
Weekly appearance, KBS (Korean Broadcasting System) Classic FM

Military Service

2005–7
Republic of Korea Army Training and Doctrine Command
Rank at the time of discharge from active duty: Sergeant (SGT)
Military specialty: Translation (English/Korean)