Unsuk Chin to lead concert for Ho-Am Prize winners

Unsuk Chin, composer-in-residence of Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra and 2012 Ho-Am Prize winner / Courtesy of Credia

By Do Je-hae

Germany-based composer Unsuk Chin will host a concert on the occasion of the Ho-Am Prize ceremony, according to a press release by Credia, Friday.

A 2012 laureate of the prestigious prize funded by Samsung, Chin is one of the most renowned classical music composers Korea has produced since the late Isang Yun.

This year’s Ho-Am Prize ceremony will take place on May 31. Chin’s concert will take place on the following day at the Ho-Am Art Hall.

The program will consist of Bach’s Brandenburg Concerto; Stravinsky’s Concerto in D for Strings; and Schnittke’s Concerto Grosso No.1 for 2 Violins, Harpsichord and Strings.

Chin will provide an introduction to each piece before they are played. Members of the Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra, including associate concertmaster Shin A-ra, will participate in the concert.

The Berlin-based Chin is a composer-in-residence of the Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra since 2006, directing its Contemporary Music Series.

In 1988 Unsuk Chin moved to Berlin, where she worked for years as a freelance composer at the Electronic music studio of the Technical University of Berlin, completing seven works.

Her first large orchestral piece, "Troerinnen," was premiered by the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra in 1990. Her breakthrough work "Acrostic Wordplay" was premiered by the Nieuw Ensemble in 1991, and since then it has been performed in 15 countries in Europe, Asia and North America.

One of her most notable works is her violin concerto premiered in 2002 by Viviane Hagner. Since then it has been programmed in Europe, Asia and North America, and performed, among others, by violinist Christian Tetzlaff with the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra (BPO) and Simon Rattle in 2005.

When Rattle brought his orchestra to Seoul in 2011, he spoke highly of Chin in a press conference.

“We have one of your greatest composers ― Unsuk Chin ― living in Berlin,” Rattle said.

Unsuk Chin’s works have been performed by top conductors such as Kent Nagano, Gustavo Dudamel, Esa-Pekka Salonen, Neeme Järvi, Peter Eotvos as well as by leading orchestras and ensembles.

Commissioners include the Kronos Quartet, Radio France Philharmonic, the BBC Symphony Orchestra, the London Sinfonietta, South Bank Centre, Los Angeles Opera, and the Bavarian State Opera.

Chin’s first opera "Alice in Wonderland" was premiered at Bavarian State Opera in 2007.

The Ho-Am Prize is a Korean annual award given to those who have made outstanding contributions to the development of science and culture since 1991.

It is named in honor of the late founder of Samsung Chairman Lee Byung-Chull, and awarded in five fields: science, engineering, medicine, arts and community service. Winners of the Ho-Am Prize in the Arts include conductor Chung Myung-whun, ballerina Kang Sue-jin and violinist Chung Kyung-wha.

This year, the winner of the arts category is novelist Shin Kyoung-sook, the first Korean and first woman to win the Man Asian Literary Prize in 2012 for "Please Look After Mom."

The other winners are Harold Y. Hwang, a professor at Stanford University, in science; Kim Sang-tae, distinguished professor at Purdue University, in engineering; Lee Se-jin, a professor at Johns Hopkins University, in medicine; and Rhee Chong-man and Kim Hyun-sook, a couple running the Only Grace Social Welfare Foundation, in the category of community service.