Two traditions, one voice — where Korean gugak and jazz share a stage as equals.
2006년부터 미국 보스턴에 거주하며, 국악과 재즈를 잇는 ‘한국적 재즈’를 만들어온 재미 한인 피아니스트·작곡가
Pianist · Composer · Musicologist
2006년 미국 보스턴으로 건너가, 국악과 재즈가 한 무대에서 대등하게 만나는 ‘한국적 재즈’를 만들어온 재미 한인 피아니스트·작곡가.
조미나는 2006년 보스턴으로 유학을 떠나 버클리 음대, 뉴잉글랜드 컨서바토리(NEC), 브랜다이스 대학교에서 재즈와 음악학을 공부했다. 다양한 재즈를 익히는 동안 자연스럽게 자신의 뿌리인 한국 음악으로 눈을 돌렸고, 국악과 재즈가 서로를 손님으로 두지 않고 대등하게 어우러지는 음악을 만들어왔다. 지금은 보스턴을 기반으로 국악 재즈 소사이어티(Gugak Jazz Society)를 이끌며, 보스턴·몬트리올·몽펠리에부터 서울·부산까지 무대를 이어가고 있다.
Cho writes at the meeting point of pansori song, the pulse of Korean rhythm, and the freedom of improvisation.
Mina Cho is a pianist, composer, and musicologist whose work bridges Korean traditional music and jazz. At the piano she moves between worlds that rarely share a stage — pairing the improviser's freedom with the deep rhythmic cycles (jangdan) of Korean percussion and the storytelling of pansori — and builds pieces in which neither tradition is a guest.
Her music has been presented from Boston, Montreal, and Montpellier to Seoul and Busan. Recent projects include Rythmes de Corée for Korea Week 2026 at Montreal's Place des Arts, the invited showcase Jangdansori: Danmyeon at the Busan International Performing Arts Market, and Samulnori Fantasy: Seasons — a cross-cultural cantata for Korean percussion, jazz ensemble, and gospel choir premiered at NEC's Jordan Hall and later staged at the National Gugak Center in Seoul.
Cho grounds this cross-cultural work in living practice: she performs Korean traditional percussion with the Boston Pungmul Community in the Imsil Pilbong Nongak tradition. As a scholar, her doctoral dissertation at Brandeis traces the emergence of a new Korean spiritual aesthetic through Dongjin Park's pansori Yesujeon.
She is the founder and director of the International Gugak Jazz Institute (IGJI) and the Boston Academy of Korean Traditional Arts (BAKTA), and leads the Gugak Jazz Society. She holds a PhD in Musicology from Brandeis University and a DMA in Jazz Composition from the New England Conservatory, and serves on the faculty of Emerson College. Her albums and performances have been covered by Mountain Lake PBS, UK Jazz News, DownBeat, and Korea's National Gugak Center, among others.
KoTPA Overseas Expansion Program, 2024 · ARKO Grant, Arts Council Korea, 2020 · AASLH Leadership in History Award, 2020 · Provost Dissertation Fellowship, Brandeis, 2021 · CJ Culture Foundation Scholarship, 2015–2018 · DownBeat “Best Albums of the Year”
Available for concerts, festivals, commissions & residencies.
