What's in a name? This question, first posed by to Juliet to her sweet Romeo, has been bandied about rhetorically for four centuries. At long last, we have an answer, and that answer is "Spin-Flip." It all began in 1970, when Kim Taek-soo was born in South Korea. Then, ten years later, Kim Taek-soo was born in South Korea. "Kim," you see, is one of the most common surnames in Korea, and the family name comes before the given name. The first Kim went on to become one of the greatest Korean table tennis players of all time, winning medals in singles and doubles at the 1992 Olympics. He is now the head coach of the Korean national team. Kim the younger has established himself as one of the world's leading composers. Perhaps to lessen confusion with his homophonous countryman, he chooses to transliterate his given name as "Taxu" instead of "Taek-soo." Nonetheless, Taxu Kim (last name last when working in the western world) cannot shake the questions about whether he is proficient at table tennis. "Though the answer is 'No,' this silly coincidence has led me to write a musical piece about it," wrote Kim. This piece, a 2014 composition entitled "Spin-Flip," is a quirky modern experimental piece meant to evoke the playful drama of a table tennis tournament. With percussive allusions to the onomatopoetic "ping-pong" sounds, the brass section mimics the collective sighs and gasps of the audience. The composer Kim also ties in references to a subject closer to his heart: science. An award-winning chemistry student in his youth, Kim drew inspiration from the importance of "spin" in the behavior of subatomic particles. The piece is enjoying its third performance by American orchestras, appearing this weekend at the San Diego Symphony. "As with most new works by living composers (especially younger ones like Texu Kim!), getting a second or third or fourth performance after the world premiere is not always guaranteed," observed San Diego Symphony artistic director Clement So. "It’s wonderful to see many orchestras and conductors around the world are taking an interest in Texu’s music." So while Kim Taek-soo continues to prepare the Korean men's table tennis team for the World Championships and Olympics, the relentlessly creative Taxu Kim is likely looking for the next "silly coincidence" to serve as his muse. That's what's in a name, Mr. Shakespeare.

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