Born in Seoul, South Korea, Joyce Kwon moved to Texas when she was eight years old and discovered that she was speechless. Her silence was partly due to her limited English, but mostly due to a fear of sounding incompetent. It wasn't until over a year and a half later, when her family moved to California, that she decided to stop being "the mute girl" and started speaking in public.

Though she grew up playing piano, it was not until Joyce attended the Los Angeles County High School for the Arts that she became passionate about music. The student director of the award-winning vocal jazz ensemble, Joyce studied gospel and jazz voice under the loving guidance of Pat Bass, in addition to vocal technique, orchestration and jazz arranging, until she graduated and entered the University of California, Berkeley.

Initially having abandoned her musical aspirations, Joyce considered a variety of career options ranging from pharmaceuticals to truck driving to selling puka shell bracelets on the beach. After much soul-searching, she came to realize that she has the freedom to pursue anything her heart desires and chose music as the medium to integrate her interests, from her love of Brazil to her ethnic identity.

In her years at Berkeley, Joyce began to find her own unique voice as a performer and composer, with encouragement from many wonderful mentors. Pianist/composer, Myra Melford, introduced her to the fun world of contemporary improvisation and inspired her to explore innovative ways to use her voice. Composer/extended technique vocalist, Ken Ueno, and jazz saxophonist, Dann Zinn, also have influenced Joyce to use her voice in unconventional ways.

After returning to Los Angeles, she studied gayageum (twelve-string Korean zither) for just under two years, before moving to New York to pursue a masters degree at Manhattan School of Music. She hopes to have the opportunity to continue with traditional music studies in the future, but for now, is excited to be back in school!

From refusing to speak to singing out loud, Joyce Kwon has learned to fully express herself through her voice.