Born in South Korea, she grew up in Los Angeles and trained in both the West and the East Coast. Her musical influences include film and jazz music, European avant-gardes as well as various literary traditions. In her choral work Tears for Te Wano, a 19th-century Maori chant and a 16th-century Renaissance motet are fused together while highlighting each distinct chant tradition. Her Three Miniatures for Piano uses a Korean folk tune as a descant, shrouds it in blues-infused harmony.