Chin opera to premiere in Ojai
http://www.calendarlive.com/music/classical/cl-et-
quick14.4nov14,2,1827074.story

The world premiere of a work for soprano and orchestra by South
Korean-born composer Unsuk Chin will highlight the 58th Ojai
Festival, June 3-6, new festival director Thomas W. Morris announced
Thursday.

Chin has served as composer in residence for the Deutsches Symphonie-
Orchester Berlin, led by Kent Nagano, music director of the Ojai
Festival. Nagano also has commissioned her to write an opera based
on "Alice in Wonderland" for L.A. Opera's 2005-06 season.

Other highlights of the festival will include a rare performance in
English of Carl ("Carmina Burana") Orff's opera "Die Kluge" ("The
Wise Woman"), a new performing edition of Ockeghem's 15th
century "Missa Ecce ancilla domini" and a performance in English of
Bach's "Passion According to St. John."

Series tickets, $65 to $400, are on sale: (805) 646-2094 or
www.ojaifestival.org.

=============

Unsuk Chin
b. 1961
http://www.boosey.com/pages/cr/composer/composer_main.asp?
composerid=2754

Unsuk Chin was born in Seoul, studied with Ligeti in Hamburg, and is
now resident in Berlin * Her output features both electronic and
acoustic scores * Music is modern in language, but lyrical and non-
doctrinaire in communicative power * Acute ear for instrumentation,
orchestral colour, and rhythmic imagery * Acrostic-Wordplay has been
performed by ensembles in Europe, Asia and North America *
Interpreters include the Ensemble InterContemporain, Ensemble
Modern, Kronos Quartet, pianist Rolf Hind, violinist Viviane Hagner,
and conductors Kent Nagano, Simon Rattle and George Benjamin

Works by Unsuk Chin include:
Acrostic-Wordplay (1991/93) for soprano and ensemble
Violin Concerto (2001) for violin and orchestra
Double Concerto (2002) for piano, percussion and ensemble

Looking Ahead: performances of Acrostic-Wordplay this season in
Milan, Paris, Cologne and Porto; UK premiere of Violin Concerto and
Japanese premiere of Piano Concerto in February 2004; Swiss premiere
of Double Concerto conducted by Heinz Holliger in March 2004; future
commissions for Los Angeles Opera in 2004/05 and for London
Sinfonietta in 2005; continuing series of Etudes for solo piano;
plans for a portrait CD

"a formidable ear for sonority and for mining the expressive
potential of the slightest nuances of pitch and pulse." — The
Guardian

==================


Unsuk Chin international success
http://216.239.51.104/search?q=cache:qCWrflffP8cJ:www.gates-
ink.demon.co.uk/what/news/chin.html+unsuk+chin&hl=en&ie=UTF-8

The music of the Korean-born composer Unsuk Chin is increasingly
being programmed by leading contemporary music groups, festivals and
orchestras around the world. An ideal introduction to Chin's music
is her most celebrated work, Akrostichon-Wortspiel (Acrostic-
Wordplay) (1991/93) for soprano and ensemble, which has proved
highly successful wherever it has been performed. Players relish the
music's virtuosic challenges and the composer's acute ear for
instrumentation, while audiences have responded enthusiastically to
the music's colour, whimsical humour and lightness of touch. The
wordless soprano part has attracted leading contemporary singers,
including Valdine Anderson and Susan Narucki.

Akrostichon-Wortspiel has recently received its US premiere with the
Los Angeles Philharmonic New Music Group conducted by George
Benjamin, and the success of this concert has led to a further
American performance on 10 February by the Chicago Symphony
Orchestra New Music Group. The work can be heard in London on 17
April with Nicole Tibbels and members of the Philharmonia Orchestra
conducted by Stefan Asbury in an early evening Chin portrait
concert, also including the UK premiere of Fantaisie mécanique.
Asbury also conducts a studio recording of Akrostichon-Wortspiel for
BBC Radio 3 as part of the Sounding the Century series.

The premiere of Unsuk Chin's new work for ensemble and electronics,
Xi, written for the Ensemble InterContemporain, takes place under
the baton of David Robertson at the Cité de la musique in Paris on
24 February. Xi (pronounced like the English letter C) is the Korean
word for a seed, nucleus or smallest single particle, from which a
larger organism grows. In musical terms the work develops from
primal cells of material, and the title provides a further link to
the technique of granular synthesis employed in the electronic
contribution to the score. The electronic part, mostly on tape but
with some sounds generated live by a sampling keyboard, was created
at the Technical University in Berlin, which is the base for Chin's
compositional activities.

This Spring also brings a concert in Helsinki featuring the Finnish
premieres of two major Chin works, Trojan Women (1986) for female
voices and orchestra and santika Ekatala (1993) for orchestra. The
programme on 11 March is given by the Helsinki Philharmonic and
Sibelius Academy Orchestra under the direction of Leif Segerstam.
Interest in Chin's music in the Nordic countries will be furthered
by an important co-commission from the Danish Radio, Gothenburg and
Oslo Philharmonic orchestras for a work for soprano and bass
soloists, chorus and orchestra, due for premiere in 2001.


Selected Performances 1991–99

1991
Amsterdam Nieuw Ensemble/David Porcelijn

1993
London Premiere Ensemble/George Benjamin
Graz Ensemble 20 Jahrhundert/ Peter Burwik

1994
Krakov Seoul Art Respirant

1996
Copenhagen Esbjerg Ensemble/Tamas Veto
Berlin Ensemble Modern/Benjamin
Vienna Ensemble Modern/Benjamin
Frankfurt Ensemble Modern/Benjamin

1997
Brussels Ictus Ensemble

1998
Los Angeles Los Angeles Philharmonic New Music Group/George
Benjamin

1999
London Philharmonia Orchestra/Stefan Asbury
Tel Aviv Israel Contemporary Players


=================

Unsuk Chin
(b. 1961)
http://www.peminfo.nl/gaudeamus/composerdetail.asp?composer=2590

English (from: MW - 1997)
Unsuk Chin followed lessons in piano and music theory at a very
early age, and continued her studies at the Seoul National
University, including composition with Sukhi Kang.

She appeared as pianist at the Pan Music Festivals and in 1984 her
work Gestalten (Figures) was selected for the ISCM World Music Days
in Canada and for UNESCO's Rostrum for Composers.

In 1985 she moved to Europe when she received the DAAD stipend to
study in Germany, studying composition with György Ligeti in Hamburg
until 1988.

Since then Unsuk Chin has lived in Berlin, composing and working in
the electronic studio of the Berlin Technical University.

Unsuk Chin's compositions have been performed at numerous festivals
in Europe and the Far East. She has composed works for the Ensemble
InterContemporain, the Gaudeamus Foundation, the Tokyo Metropolitan
Symphony Orchestra and the Inventionen Festival in Berlin.

Her output features both acoustic and electronic scores: she sees a
distinct compositional divide between the two strands and therefore
does not seek to integrate these two musical worlds. Chin's works
include Troerinnen (Trojan Women), a setting for three female
soloists, women's chorus and orchestra on texts from Euripides'
play: the Trojan women, led by Hecuba, Cassandra and Andromache,
mourn the sacking of Troy, the death of their menfolk, and their
impending fate as slaves awaiting deportation to Greece.

This dramatic work holds much promise for any future music-theatre
or operatic projects. sentika Ekatala won first prize in a
competition celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Tokyo government
in 1993.

============

Unsuk Chin
Korean Compositrice born in 1961 in Seoul
http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=fr&u=http://mac-
texier.ircam.fr/textes/c00000514/&prev=/search%3Fq%3Dunsuk%2Bchin%
26hl%3Den%26lr%3D%26ie%3DUTF-8%26oe%3DUTF-8

Biography
Unsuk Chin was born in 1961 in Seoul, in Korea. After having started
very young person of the courses of piano and musical theory, it
continues its studies at the National University of Seoul, working
in particular the composition with Sukhi Kang.

It occurs as pianist with the Side Music Festivals, and in 1984 its
composition Gestalten (forms) is selected for the world Days of the
music of the ISCM in Canada and for the "Platform of the type-
setters" of UNESCO.

In 1985, it is established in Europe where it receives a purse DAAD
to study in Germany, and takes courses of composition with György
Ligeti in Hamburg until 1988. Since then, Unsuk Chin lives in
Berlin, composes and works with the electronic studio of the
technical University of the city.

The compositions of Unsuk Chin were carried out in many festivals in
Germany, in Austria, in Scandinavia, in the Netherlands, in France,
in the United Kingdom and in the Far East.

Among its works let us quote Troerinnen (Troyennes), for three
votes, chorus of women and full orchestra (1986); Gradus infinitum ,
for magnetic tape (1989); Akrostichon wordplay , for soprano and
together (1991, ordering of the Gaudeamus foundation); El aliento of
sank , for magnetic tape (1991-92, ordering of the Inventionen
festival of Berlin); Santika ekatala , for orchestra;
ParaMetaString , written for Kronos Four-bit byte; a new work for
the pianist Rolf Hind and the National BBC Orchestrated of Wales
directed per Mark Wigglesworth created in May 1997. Unsuk Chin also
composes a series of studies for piano.

===============

UNSUK CHIN - 1961 KOREA - ISCM 1984, GAUDEAMUS PRIZE 1984
http://www.gaudeamus.nl/oud/biobak/c/chinu.htm

Unsuk Chin was born in 1961 in Seoul, Korea. Early studies in piano
and music theory led to the National University Seoul where she
studied composition with Sukhi Kang.

She appeared as pianist at the Pan Music Festivals, and in 1984 her
composition 'Gestalten' was selected for the ISCM World Music Days
in Canada and for the UNESCO Rostrum of Composers.

The following year, her final student work, Spektra for three
cellos, won the International Gaudea- mus Composition Prize in
Amsterdam.

In 1985 she moved to Europe when she received the DAAD stipend for
study in Germany, and took composition lessons with Györgi Ligeti in
Hamburg until 1988.

Since then Unsuk Chin has lived in Berlin, composing and working in
the electronic studio of the Technical University. 'Akrostichon-
Wortspie'l (Acrostic-Wordplay, 1991), written for soprano and eleven
instru- ments (some with microtonal tunings), was commissioned by
the Gaudeamus Foundation in Amsterdam and premiered by the Nieuw
Ensemble under David Porcelijn.

Last year Chin completed her first purely orchestral work, 'santika
Ekatala' (1993), which won first prize in a Japanese competition and
was performed twice in October 1993 by the Metropolitan Orchestra of
Tokyo under Michiyoshi Inoue.

In 1993 she was invited by Ensemble InterContemporain, Paris to
compose a piece for the season 1994/95. The piece 'Fantaisie
Mécanique' was performed on December 2, 1994 in Paris. At the
present Unsuk Chin is working a.o. on a cycle of 12 piano-etudes,
which were perfor- med on June 12, 1995 in Berlin by the pianist
Shiao-Li Ding. Since October 1994 the compo- ser is living in Paris
for a year on a stipend from the Berlin Senat.

Akrostichon-Wortspiel (Acrostic-Wordplay) (1991/93) I. Hide and Seek
II. The Puzzle of the Three Magic Gates III. The Rules of the Game-
sdrawkcab emiT IV. Four Seasons in Five Verses V. Domifare S VI. The
Game of Chance VII. From the Old Time 'Akrostichon-Wortspiel'
(Acrostic-Wordplay), commissioned by the Gaudeamus Foundation, was
composed in 1991 for the occasion of the 1980 Gaudeamus
Prizewinner's Concert and its first performance, in incomplete form,
was given by the Nieuw Ensemble in Amsterdam conducted by David
Porcelijn.

The piece was completed two years later and this definitive version
received its premiere at the Queen Elizabeth Hall in London on
September 8, 1993 with George Benjamin conducting the Premiere
Ensemble. 'Akrotichon-Wortspiel' consists of seven scenes from the
fairytales 'The Endless Story' by Michael Ende and 'Alice Through
the Looking Glass' by Lewis Carroll.

The selected texts have been worked upon in different ways:
sometimes the consonants and vowels have been random- ly joined
together, other times the words have been read backwards so that the
symbolic meaning alone remains.

Each of the seven pieces is constructed around a controlling pitch
centre but in their means of expression they are fully
differentiated from one another.

Seven different situations or emotio- nal states, as described in
the fairytales, ranging from the bright to the grotesque are brought
to expression. The tunings of some of the ensemble instruments are
adapted from one quarter to one sixth of a tone to achieve a fine
microtonality. The solo soprano fluctuates between these two tuning
systems, depending upon which she perceives at any time.

16 minutes soprano, piccolo/alto flute, bass clarinet, percussion,
mandolin, harp, piano, violin, viola, double bass

Boosey & Hawkes Musikverlag Postfach 1264 D-53002 Bonn 1 Germany
Tel.: ..49.228.988690 Fax: ..49.228.9886911

CANZONE II

was written in 1986, commissioned by Gaudeamus as a result of
winning the Gaudeamus-prize in 1985 for the three-cello-piece
Spektra. This is the second piece in a series of compositions for
solo-instruments. At the beginning improvised-ornamental and exactly
fixed figures occur in a fast, but irregular tempo.

At the same time chord elements are developped, which individualize
more and more and thus get a totally new character. Finally the
changed chord structures and the fast figures make a synthesis.

In 1988 Unsuk Chin made a reversed and enlarged version.

GRADUS AD INFINITUM FüR TONBAND

This piece is based on a micro-tone scale of 20 tones in an octave.
There are 8 different parts, i.e. 4 different two-voice canons in
retrograde motion which are juxtaposed polyrhythmically.

Each part consists of a short motive, which is developped by
imitation with contrary motion and reversal - and yet again
imitation and so on. Therefore a real end is not clear. The global
structure is divided in 5 sections of about 2 minutes each.

Though each part is very articulated, the whole looks rather chaotic
because of the dense texture : chaos in order / order in chaos. This
piece was realized in the electronic studio of the T.U. Berlin in
1989.

Muziekweek 1997

UNSUK CHIN (South Korea, 1961) Unsuk Chin followed lessons in piano
and music theory at a very early age, and continued her studies at
the Seoul National University, including composition with Sukhi
Kang. She appeared as pianist at the Pan Music Festivals and in 1984
her work Gestalten (Figures) was selected for the ISCM World Music
Days in Canada and for UNESCO's Rostrum for Composers.

In 1985 she moved to Europe when she received the DAAD stipend to
study in Germany, studying composition with György Ligeti in Hamburg
until 1988. Since then Unsuk Chin has lived in Berlin, composing and
working in the electronic studio of the Berlin Technical University.
Unsuk Chin's compositions have been performed at numerous festivals
in Europe and the Far East.

She has composed works for the Ensemble InterContemporain, the
Gaudeamus Founda- tion, the Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra
and the Inventionen Festival in Berlin. Her output features both
acoustic and electronic scores: she sees a distinct compositional
divide between the two strands and therefore does not seek to
integrate these two musical worlds.

Chin's works include Troerinnen (Trojan Women), a setting for three
female soloists, women's chorus and orchestra on texts from
Euripides' play: the Trojan women, led by Hecuba, Cassan- dra and
Andromache, mourn the sacking of Troy, the death of their menfolk,
and their impen- ding fate as slaves awaiting deportation to Greece.
This dramatic work holds much promise for any future music-theatre
or operatic projects. sentika Ekatala won first prize in a
competition celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Tokyo government
in 1993.

s a n t i k a E k a t a l a ( 1 9 9 3 ) f o r l a r g e o r c h e s
t r a The title of the piece is taken from Sanskrit and
means "harmony to ward off evil consequen- ces". Thus the piece can
be interpreted as part of a ritual, since it is still current
practice. In Asia in a buddhist-shamanistic tradition a ritual is
enacted to summon good prospects at the start of an important
undertaking, to ward off evil spirits and to propitiate good
spirits.

For years I planned to write a piece for large orchestra, after
completing a series of works for choir and orchestra, chamber
ensemble and recorded material.

So in early 1993 I had the opportunity to start this project and got
the piece down on paper in a phase of intensive work, after having
planned it thoroughly in previous years.

The harmonic structure is made up of varying key notes: from the
framework of their overto- nes a kind of tonality in triads results.
I have also allowed myself many things which were 'forbidden' in the
modernist tradition of music, such as repetition of phrases and
consonant intervals.

Hence tension is built up and relaxed in a more classical way. This
piece is made up of a number of small sections, but there is a
musical progression which runs throughout. Concepts associated with
the development of the work are 'motion'
and 'immobility', 'explosion' and 'implosion'.