Oh, Hee Sook

Hee-Sook Oh graduated from the Department of Piano at Ewha Womans University and earned her M.A. and Ph.D. degrees in Musicology from the University of Freiburg, Germany. She is currently a Professor in the Department of Musicology at College of Music, Seoul National University, specializing in musical aesthetics and contemporary music. She served as President of the Korean-German Society for Musicology and the Korean Society for Musicology, and currently serves as Representative of the Society for Music Aesthetics.

She has authored numerous books on contemporary music and aesthetics, including Quotation Music as a Cultural Symbol (2022), Real Music Begins When the Music Stops (2021), Korean Contemporary Music in Interculturality (2020), and History of Korean Contemporary Music Through Composition (2019). Furthermore, she has broadened the horizons of musicology through edited volumes and collaborative research addressing music, technology, and cultural discourse, such as AI and Posthuman Aesthetics in Music (2022) and Superman or Frankenstein: Music and Technology in the Age of AI (2024). She received the Excellence in Teaching Award from Seoul National University in 2010 and served as Principal Investigator for the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) Distinguished Scholar Program from 2021 to 2026.

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Education

• Bachelor of Music in Piano, College of Music, Ewha Womans University

• M.A. in Musicology, University of Freiburg, Germany (Studie zu Hindemiths früher Klaviermusik)

• Ph.D. in Musicology, University of Freiburg, Germany (Studien zur kompositorischen Entwicklung des jungen Hindemith)

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Professional Experience​

• Professor, College of Music, Seoul National University (2004 – Present)

• Associate Dean of Student Affairs, College of Music, Seoul National University (2019 – 2020)

• Former Director, Western Music Research Institute, Seoul National University

• Former Director of Planning & Public Relations, College of Music, Seoul National University

• Former Director, Music Library, Seoul National University

• Lecturer, Seoul National University, Ewha Womans University, Korea National University of Arts, Myongji University, Hanyang University, and Pusan National University (1992 – 2004)

 

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Academic Leadership & Professional Services

• Representative, Society for Music Aesthetics (2010 – Present)

• President, Korean Society for Musicology (2008 – 2012)

• Editor-in-Chief, Journal of Music Theory, Western Music Research Institute (2004 – 2010)

• President, Korean-German Society for Musicology (2003 – 2008)

• Editor-in-Chief, Musicology (Journal of the Korean Society for Musicology) (2000 – 2010)

 

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Research Grants & Projects

• 2021 – 2026 National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) Distinguished Scholar Program: Musical Posthumanism Aesthetics

• 2020 Kyujanggak Institute for Korean Studies (SNU) 21st Century Kyujanggak Archive Project: Korean Original Operas

• 2019 Seoul National University Interdisciplinary Research Grant: AI and Posthuman Aesthetics

• 2018 – 2019 National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) Humanities & Social Sciences Book Publishing Grant: Intertextual Aesthetics

• 2018 Seoul National University Interdisciplinary Research Grant: Chinese Contemporary Opera

• 2017 – 2018 National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) Mid-career Researcher Program: Chinese New Wave Music

• 2017 Seoul National University Interdisciplinary Research Grant: Contemporary Opera in Korea and Japan

• 2012 – 2013 National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) Mid-career Researcher Program: Aesthetics of Musical Temporality

• 2008 – 2009 National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) Young Investigator Grant: Aesthetics of Musical Genius

• 2000 – 2001 National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) Academic Research Grant: 20th-Century Musical Aesthetics

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Honors & Awards​

• 2026 Student Self-Directed Research Contribution Award, Faculty of Liberal Arts and Sciences, Seoul National University

• 2010 Excellence in Teaching Award, Seoul National University

• 1990 Special Scholarship Recipient, Hindemith Foundation, Germany

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Selected Academic Books

• Sejong Outstanding Academic Books, Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism

  • Quotation Music as a Cultural Symbol (2023)

  • Digital Revolution and Music (2022)

  • AI and Posthuman Aesthetics in Music (2022)

  • The Great Legacy of Beethoven (2021)

  • Korean Contemporary Music in Interculturality (2021)

• Outstanding Academic Books, National Academy of Sciences, Republic of Korea

  • Musical Aesthetics Through Works (2017)

  • Contemporary Music in East Asia (2015)

  • Music and Genius (2013)

• Recommended Academic Books, Ministry of Culture and Tourism

  • Philosophy in Music, Music in Philosophy (2009)

  • Readings in Music Sociology Literature (2007)

  • Readings in Musicology Literature (2007)

  • Readings in Primary Sources of Musicology (2005)

  • Musicology (2004)

  • 20th-Century Music 1, 2 (2004)