Sharon Chohi Kim is a Los Angeles-based performance-maker, vocalist, and composer whose work brings together experimental opera, performance art, movement, sound, and installation to explore collective voice and human/nonhuman ecologies. Her work has been presented at REDCAT, MOCA, and The Ford, and she is a recipient of the 2026 Creative Capital Award.
My musical influences swing from unrelenting minimalism to vibey, sing-y, female indie rock. Persistent, repetitive rhythms steady my mind and relax my body, and then I can just be. The buzzy, magical, open moments remind me of being a teenager. I look for the textures and colors, the tensions and releases that reveal secrets, the feelings that you can’t quite grasp and make you long. And the feeling of longing feels so good.
“Itaipu: Mato Grosso” by Philip Glass, Performed by Los Angeles Master Chorale, Conducted by Grant Gershon
Maximalist minimalism: the persistent bass line keeps cycling through like a slow giant through time. A recurring harmony pierces again and again, and it feels so good.
“Section IX” from Music for 18 Musicians by Steve Reich
I fell for this piece as soon as I heard it in my teens, and I’ve now performed the work six times. Being inside it is a wonderful journey: the instrument-like vocals, the bass clarinet, the maracas, the four pianos … interlocking and breathing together. And you can’t not move and groove.
Open Eye Signal by Jon Hopkins
Subtle and satisfying tensions and releases like never-ending waves driven by a persistent house beat. I love the hypnotic worlds Hopkins builds through textural repetition and gradual shifts.
Ido Govrin by Mem1
Having synesthesia in a few different ways, I often start composing with a texture or image in mind, then I search for the sound I hear in my head. It’s often on a synth where I can find these sounds most readily. This album tickles that part of me with its tangible textures, assembled beautifully. Just cello and electronics create images of vastness and granularity.
“Invisible Light: Explorers Juncture” from Atlas by Meredith Monk
Performing this opera and working with Meredith Monk deeply inspired my creative practice — the way movement and voice emerge from one another, and her gestural, wordless vocalization within structured improvisation.
“Lux Prima” by Karen O. and Danger Mouse
My perfect album to stay home with vibey lighting, have a glass of my favorite amaro, and have deep meandering chats … Karen O’s voice is used both texturally and melodically, with echoes of Serge Gainsbourg pop. Yum.
“I Fold” by Sharon Van Etten
I was an emo teenager once, and this album — with its sweet vocals, achy intimacy, melancholy lyrics, and simple acoustic guitar — hits.
“Change” by Big Thief
I will never not be drawn to simple songs with simple lyrics that reach me deep. Unadorned and unresolved, I keep going back for its bittersweetness.
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