M.A.I. Foundation co-founder and board member Judith Jeon is a soprano by training and has sang professionally for most of her earlier career. She has performed in numerous operatic productions and lieder recitals throughout Europe, the United States and Asia. An engaging music educator, she frequently teaches master classes at many colleges and conservatories.
Judy Jeon's life and work reflect her venturesome spirit and creative muse. Concurrent to her work in music performance and education, she has also devoted herself to writing and literature, including essays, music journalism and criticism. For nearly fifteen years Judy has held the appointment of senior New York correspondent for the performing arts magazine Auditorium. Judy's prolific writings have also been published in numerous books, journals, magazines, and newspapers. Her latest book, Aria of Love and Happiness, is a collection of her autobiographical essays about family, education, and music in our current society. It is published by Samtoh Press.
Judy Jeon's literary career began with an unusual twist of fate in 1980 during her student days. Leaving her homeland of Korea for graduate studies in Germany, Judy was given charge of escorting a large group of very young adoptee children (ranging in ages from just four months to seven years) as they traveled towards their new life with their awaiting adoptive parents in Europe. The physical, emotional and spiritual toll from that experience was overwhelming enough, but she also contracted a serious illness through her close contact with some of those children, necessitating her hospitalization for an extensive period thereafter. These heart-rending and life-defining experiences were the basis of her celebrated non-fiction writings which earned her wide recognition and prestigious awards many years later.
Among the media appearances Judy has been featured in include interviews and documentaries on her life and experiences in her humanitarian work (CBS-TV), on music and gifted education today (KBS-TV), and on her musical family Joyous Life: A Day in the Life of Paul Kim & Sons, Trio Pianists (an animated film documentary).
Following her years of musical activity in Europe, Judy came to the United States for further studies at Juilliard, Columbia, and CUNY in the professional and doctoral degree programs. In addition to her academic degrees in music, Judy also holds a Master of Science degree in educational technology. She has increasingly devoted her work in the application of new technology to music, education, and the creative arts. In her position as managing director of the M.A.I. Foundation, Judy has committed her aggregate experiences and talents to the advancement of the Foundation, overseeing various facets of the administration.
Judy is a member of a well-known musical family. For many years she has concertized with her husband, the pianist Paul Kim, while raising their two virtuoso sons, Matthew and James. Several years ago the three men began performing together around the world. Paul Kim & Sons, a trio of father and sons pianist, is the world's first such ensemble. Since the beginning stages of the MAI Foundation's work, they have contributed greatly with their music and talents to benefit the Foundation. In her key role in the operations of the Foundation Judy manages the administrative, educational, and performing activities and also serves as liason to the public and other partner organizations.
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