Guitarist Jiji Kim Appointed to IU's Jacobs School of Music Faculty

Kim comes to Indiana University from her current position as assistant professor at Arizona State University

Classical guitarist Jiji Kim (JIJI) has been appointed to the faculty at Indiana University's Jacobs School of Music. She will begin as an associate professor in August 2023, and will serve as a visiting artist and adjunct faculty member until that time.

Kim plays both acoustic and electric guitar and is also a prolific improviser and champion of contemporary music. In 2016, she was a First Prize winner at the Concert Artists Guild competition, becoming the first guitarist to win the award in thirty years. As a result, she was granted an award from the BMI Commissioning Fund, with which she commissioned a work by Nina C. Young.

She most recently signed on with New York's Kirshbaum Associates for worldwide representation.

Serbian guitarist Petar Jankovic also joined the school's guitar department in August 2022. A Jacobs alumnus, he has previously served as a senior lecturer in the school.

"Jiji Kim’s impeccable musicianship, frequent premieres of new musical works and inventive programming cement her reputation as a true twenty-first-century guitarist," said Abra Bush, Jacobs' Bicentennial Dean.

"We enthusiastically welcome [Kim and Jankovic] to their new appointments as they join colleague Daniel Duarte in forging a powerful team to commence this exciting and innovative era in guitar at Jacobs."

"I am very excited that Jiji will be joining us," said Lissa May, the interim chair of Jacobs' Guitar Department. "Her commitment to new works and her breadth as a guitarist who performs and teaches diverse styles of music make her the perfect person to work alongside Petar [Jankovic] and Daniel Duarte to shape the future of the department.”