Paul Sanho Kim

Compositions

Virginia Music Teachers Assocation’s 2022 Commissioned Composer

“The entire performance feels operatic in its rhythmic circulation through the multiple scenes… Where Darkness Meets Light is an elegant example of the marriage between glass and performance and a successful collaboration between [visual artist Hannah] Kirkpatrick and Kim, both technically and through their ability to render an emotionally transformative experience. Throughout the hour-long performance, I personally found myself transfixed and rooted to my seat.” – GLASS: The UrbanGlass Quarterly

“It was the endlessly fascinating music of Radiohead that seemed to be at the real heart of the concert, with deft arrangements by Paul Sanho Kim of ‘Paranoid Android,’ ‘Weird Fishes’ and ‘Motion Picture Soundtrack’ that married the power of the originals with a classical sensibility.” – Washington Post

List of Compositions

Click on a title for more information and recording samples.

For perusal scores or to purchase sheet music, please send a message.

ORCHESTRA

• ADAGIO (6′)
• FANTASIA ON “ODE TO JOY” (3.5′)
• IT’S RAINING CATS AND DOGS (4′)
• LULLABIES (4′)
• NEBULA (2′)
• PERSEVERANCE (14′)
• VIRTUAL RECLAMATION for solo violin and chamber orchestra (10′)

STRING ORCHESTRA

• FANTASIA ON “ODE TO JOY” (3.5′)
• MANY PATHS, ONE HEAVEN (3.5′)
• SONG WITHOUT WORDS (5′)

WIND ENSEMBLE

• ENJOYING LIFE (7.5′)

PERCUSSION ENSEMBLE

• TRAPPED for flute and percussion ensemble (4.5′)

CHAMBER ENSEMBLE

• 7/7 for violin, cello, and piano (15′)
• EMULATIONS for string quartet (9.5′)
• HAPPY THOUGHTS for violin, cello, and piano (7′)
• FANTASIA ON “ODE TO JOY” for violin, viola, and cello (3.5′)
• GIGUE FOR WOODWINDS AND PIANO for flute, oboe, clarinet, bassoon, and piano (5′)
• JOYS OF SUMMER for violin, vibraphone, and double bass (5′)
• PERSEVERING for oboe, violin, viola, and cello (12′)
• SONG WITHOUT WORDS for string quartet or quintet (5′)
• TWO BIRDS for violin and viola (9′)
• THREE POEMS BY CHRISTINA ROSSETTI for viola, piano, and optional narrator (13′)
  • PARADISE: IN A SYMBOL (3.5′)
  • UPHILL (5′)
  • ECHO (4.5′)
• WHERE DARKNESS MEETS LIGHT for violin and cello (45′)
  • MEDITATION (solo cello) (5′)
  • BLINKING LIGHT (6′)
  • STRUGGLE (7′)
  • SILHOUETTE (solo cello) (3′)
  • ADAGIO (solo violin) (5′)
  • WHERE DARKNESS MEETS LIGHT (8′)
  • ACCEPTANCE (7′)
  • SHIMMER (4′)
• VALENTINE’S DAY for violin and classical guitar (4′)
• WHAT IF…? for violin and clarinet (5′)

SOLO INSTRUMENTAL

• ADAGIO (FOR REBECCA) for violin (5′)
• AMAZING GRACE (arr.) for violin (3.5′)
• THE COMFORT OF FRIENDS: FIVE SONGS FOR HORN for French horn (10′)
• FREE for viola OR violin (4′)
• GLIMPSE OF PEACE for piano (4.5′)
• REFLECTION for guitar (2′)
• SOFT RAIN for violin (5′)
• SONG WITHOUT WORDS for piano (5′)
• SERIAL JAZZ CELLO for cello (2.5′)
• THREE POEMS BY CHRISTINA ROSSETTI for viola, piano, and optional narrator (13′)
  • PARADISE: IN A SYMBOL (3.5′)
  • UPHILL (5′)
  • ECHO (4.5′)
• TIMELESS for harp (3.5′)

VOICE AND CHORUS

• THE LAKE ISLE OF INNISFREE for soprano and piano (4′)
• THE LAST INVOCATION for female voice, 2 electric guitars, violin, and double bass (6′)
• PSALM 31 for tenor, mezzo soprano, or baritone voice and piano (7.5′)
• THREE POEMS BY EDGAR ALLAN POE for tenor or baritone voice, violin, viola (or 2nd violin), clarinet (or viola), and cello (13′)
  • A DREAM WITHIN A DREAM (5′)
  • HYMN (3.5′)
  • TO M.L.S. (also for tenor or mezzo soprano and piano) (4.5′)
• THE TREASURE for SATB chorus (4.5′)

THEATRE

• AS YOU LIKE IT: INCIDENTAL MUSIC for voices, tenor recorder, violin, cello, and percussion (21′)

Arrangements

“Most of us were blown away by Paul Kim’s imaginative arrangements of songs by the alternative rock band Radiohead. One didn’t need to be a fan of the original band to enjoy the unique urban grit created by the standard and non-standard sounds from those good old string instruments. Bowing techniques ran the gamut and even included substituting spoons as mallets.” – Sarasota Herald Tribune

SYBARITE5

• Arranged eight Radiohead songs for string quintet Sybarite5’s album Everything in Its Right Place (Radiohead Remixed)
• Arranged the Punch Brothers’ “Movement and Location” for Sybarite5’s album Collective Wisdom
• Arranged Sybarite5’s YouTube cover of A-ha’s “Take on Me“

BJ GRIFFIN

• Arranged BJ Griffin’s “Time” and “Gold” for orchestra; performed by BJ Griffin and the Virginia Symphony Orchestra in 2024

MAHLER ARIA ORCHESTRATIONS

• ICH GING MIT LUST DURCH EINEN GRÜNEN WALD from Des Knaben Wunderhorn, for low voice and orchestra (4′)
• PHANTASIE aus “Don Juan” von Trio de Molina, for medium or high voice and orchestra (2.5′)
• UM SCHLIMME KINDER ARTIG ZU MACHEN from Des Knaben Wunderhorn, for low voice and orchestra (2′)

STRING ORCHESTRA OR STRING QUINTET (2 violins, viola, cello, and double bass)

• SONATENSATZ by Johannes Brahms (8′)
• VOCALISE by Sergei Rachmaninoff (6′)

STRING QUARTET

• LIEDER OHNE WORTE (SONGS WITHOUT WORDS) by Felix Mendelssohn
  • OP. 19, NO. 4 (2′)
  • OP. 30, NO. 1 (4′)
  • OP. 30, NO. 3 (2.5′)
  • OP. 53, NO. 2 (3′)
  • OP. 85, NO. 4 (3′)

SOLO VIOLIN

• AMAZING GRACE (3′)