Korean Sister Invited To Sing With The Choir At Temple Square

In our upcoming Spring General Conference, Joy Kim, from the Heungdeok Ward/Cheongju Stake, will be performing with The Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square.  After being recommended by her Bishop, Sister Kim completed a vigorous application process and was selected, along with eleven other Global participants (Paraguay, Ghana, England, Argentina, Austria, Guatemala, Chile, Sweden, Denmark, and France) to perform with the Choir.  All Global participants will be performing on the Saturday morning, Sunday morning, and Sunday afternoon sessions.   

Sister Kim’s journey to this opportunity started when she really began focusing on singing at twelve years old when her family joined a local Choir.  Her involvement with the Choir over the next five years was a catalyst for her interest and motivation in pursuing singing in college. Sister Kim graduated from college with a degree in Opera and has continued her singing while looking for opportunities to expand her skills and interest in music. 

Although the opportunity to sing with the Choir will be an incredible experience for Sister Kim, there have been several challenges and sacrifices made to participate in April.  In preparing for the audition, she spent 3 weeks preparing her audition video, in addition to many questions and interviewing preparation.  Another challenge in being a member of the choir is memorizing and practicing all the conference music before leaving for the US.  Although Sister Kim learned English as a missionary in the Salt Lake City Temple Square Mission and working for a year in Canada, learning and memorizing all the songs in English was very difficult.  Sister Kim also had difficulties adjusting her schedule given she will need to be gone for over two weeks in preparation, rehearsals in person, and performing Conference weekend. 

Throughout Sister Kim’s life, singing has always had a positive influence on her testimony of Jesus Christ.  Sister Kim said, “Music encourages me to get closer to Heavenly Father and strengthens my motivation to be more like Jesus Christ.”  She also expressed how she shares her testimony through music, “Even though languages are different, I can share my testimony to other nations through the inspiration of music.”  Sister Kim looks for opportunities to use music to unite people to be one, to love one another, and to get closer to Heavenly Father.  With a young baby girl, Sister Kim also finds joy in singing church hymns to her as lullabies in teaching her about Jesus.   

As Sister Kim prepares to leave for the United States, she recollects back to when she first received notice she was selected.  “When I heard the news, I was very surprised.  The process was so difficult, and I didn’t think I would meet their standard.  Now, however, I am thrilled with the opportunity to perform with the Choir and can cross this item off my bucket list.” 

Fun Facts: 

Favorite Church Hymns - "Each Life That Touches Ours for Good"

Favorite Music - Likes to listen to 2000s K-pop 

Next project - After Korean Hymnal is finished translating, making a playlist channel to sing hymns 

Where she met her husband – We met in Seoul YSA branch back in the days where it was still a group. We had similar interests such as going to classical concerts, exercising, and hiking, so we met often and went on group dates a lot. Now we sing hymns together every night before bed. 

Hobbies – I love to go outdoors with my family, and I also like to create contents on social media 

Future goal – I want to become a person with good influence through music