How has music influenced the endless cycle of war and violence? By examining harmony—the foundation of Western music—through a contemporary lens, this performance-music-theater work explores the way we connect with one another.

Practice of Harmony draws on harmony, the foundational theory of Western music, to ask what it truly means to live together in a community. It brings audiences into a multisensory exploration of harmonics, blending theater, dance, music, and media art. 

Today, in an age of deepening conflict and division, Kim Jaehoon and his collaborators return to the very foundations of harmony with the question:

“Can we become connected to one another, like notes of a chord that creates harmony?”

On stage, a performer learns and practices the principles of tonal harmony under the guidance of a Tutor. Alongside live musicians, the performers unpack this centuries-old music theory through movement and sound.

Chords take visible form as ‘sound objects’ in an array of colors and shapes, while newly invented musical instruments, such as the Audible Treadmill and the New Elephant Cello, engage audiences’ eyes and ears at once.

Has the world built on equal temperament, the tuning system that has become the standard in musical languages across the globe, truly created harmony in a world brimming with countless different sounds? Practice of Harmony is a special participatory performance that invites audiences unfamiliar with harmonics to join the performers in creating harmony together.

Audible Treadmill

In an age where artificial intelligence can compose a song in seconds, this instrument is designed to generate sound through the most fundamental of human acts: walking and running. The body’s movement is not a mere input value but the direct driving force that generates music. 

New Elephant Cello

Previously introduced by Kim Jaehoon in his previous work PNO, this string instrument was built from a dismantled, discarded piano. Starting from the fact that piano keys were once made of elephant ivory, the instrument summons the cry of the elephant from the piano’s remains.

<Credits>

Director, Writer, Music Kim Jaehoon

Dramaturg Choi Yujun

Assistant Director Park Hyeonji, Seo Subeen  

Choreographer & Performer Jung Soodong

Performer Lee Youngeun, Im Sojeong, Jung Hanbyeol, Jeong Geon

Musician Lee Chaeyeong, Bang Junsung, Kim Jubin 

Narration Na Kyungmin

Stage Manager Kwak Yongmin 

Scenic/Object Designer Kim Yunji

Technical Production Manager Choi Seheon

Lighting Designer Ko Minju

Video Designer Lee Hwaseung

Sound Designer Nam Sangbong, Kim Seha

Costume Designer Yang Junhwan

Graphic Designer Kim Kijo

Producer Lee Aeri

2025–26 SPAF Associate Artist

Kim jaehoon

Director, Writer, Music Kim Jaehoon
2025–26 SPAF Associate Artist

A musician and director, Kim Jaehoon transforms the lives and narratives of diverse contemporary subjects into minimalist music and performance language. Grounded in an experimental sensibility that weaves space and sound into layered textures, he explores the theatrical possibilities of music and traditions that are newly interpreted amid technological changes. 

His major works include the performances PNO (2023, 2024), PAN (2023), Theater1 (2023), SWIM (2021-); the documentaries Gwisintong (2022), Stradivarius and the Future of the Performing Human, and Joyul (2025); and the albums ACCOMPANIMENT and S.W.I.M. He is also the author of Thoughts on the Piano, and he runs the performance production company EMT.

EMT

EMT is a creative collective and production company that works across genres and forms, including performance, documentary, and exhibition, with music as the medium. It regards music not simply as something to be listened to, but as a lens for exploring social contexts and human nature. Probing the intersections of music with history, community, and technology, EMT is committed to extending its creative process into humanities-based research and sharing the results in a scholarly form.