UE composers from South Korea

Hyung-ki Joo studied composition with Simon Parkin and Malcolm Singer at the Yehudi Menuhin School. His music has been performed all over the world and by orchestras including the New York Philharmonic and London Philharmonic. He has composed and arranged music for his shows that combine music with comedy and theatre, such as Duel, and for his duo IGUDESMAN [&] JOO: A Little Nightmare Music [&] And Now Mozart. In 2001 he arranged and recorded the classical piano works of Billy Joel. More recently, Shani Diluka recorded Joo’s sonnet for solo piano, Chandeliers, on the Mirare label.

Lover of paintings, movies, and cuisines, Jaehyuck Choi is Music Director of ensemble blank. After his initial debut at the Lucerne Festival by replacing Matthias Pintscher and sharing the stage with Sir Simon Rattle on Stockhausen’s Gruppen with London Symphony Orchestra, he has appeared on the podiums of Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich, Philadelphia Orchestra, Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra, Ensemble Intercontemporain, Verbier Festival Orchestra, Trondheim Symphony, Zagreb Philharmonic, Baltic Sea Philharmonic, Daejeon Philharmonic, Bucheon Philharmonic orchestra, etc. In December 2024, Choi will appear on BBC Proms Korea with the ensemble blank which is one of the prominent performing groups in Korea that he founded. Recent highlights include conducting at the Pärnu Music Festival, Verbier Festival, Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich, as well as assisting Zubin Mehta, Paavo Järvi, Daiele Gatti, and Lahav Shani. In the 2023/24 season, Jaehyuck will return to Daejeon Philharmonic Orchestra, ensemble blank, debut with Ensemble SORI and others with repertoire encompassing Mozart, Haydn, Schumann, Mendelssohn, Tchaikovsky, Elgar, Prokofiev, Ligeti, Adams, and his own works. Jaehyuck Choi is also a composer whose music is represented by the Universal Edition in Wien. He is the 1st Prize Winner of the Concours de Genève (clarinet concerto, 2017) which brought him international recognition. His music has been commissioned and championed by the Ensemble Intercontemporain, L’Orchestre Chambre de Genève, Menuhin International Violin Competition, Parker Quartet, Banff Centre for the Arts, VIVO Music Festival, EstOvest Festival, Gyeonggi Philharmonic, Daejeon Philharmonic, Ensemble SORI, Divertimento Ensemble, etc. Jaehyuck studied at The Juilliard School in New York (BM, MM), and at the Barenboim-Said Akademie (AD) in Berlin. Currently resides in Berlin and Seoul. www.jaehyuckchoi.com | @jaehyuckchoi_official www.ensembleblank.com | @ensembleblank_official

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1994 – born on 31 October in Seoul, Korea.

receives violin lessons; attends Walnut Hill School for the Arts as composer later in Natick, USA.

2011 – Meets Unsuk Chin at the Boston's Symphony Hall. Attends Unsuk Chin's Masterclass series held by the Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra.

2012 – Meets Peter Eötvös at the Seoul Philharmonic. Since then, Eötvös frequently teaches Choi in his masterclasses of conducting and composition.

2013 – Enters The Juilliard School in composition, meets Samuel Adler. Musical conflicts with Adler matures Choi's thoughts on his music.

2014 – Matthias Pintscher comes to The Juilliard School after Adler retires. Pintscher becomes Choi's life admiring mentor.

2015 – Performs his Self-Portrait VI (2015) for orchestra with the Tonkuenstler Orchester Niederoesterreich in Grafenegg Festival, Ink Still Wet course. / Founds the ensemble blank in Korea.

2016 – Dal Niente Ensemble performs Still Life II (2015) in the US.

2017 – Wins prestigious 1st prize at the 72em Concours de Geneve with Clarinet Concerto (2017).

2018 – Conducts London Symphony Orchestra at the Lucerne Festival, Stockhausen: Gruppen with Sir Simon Rattle and Duncan Ward. / Commissioned Composer and contemporary work performance jury at the Menuhin Competition. / Commissioned Composer at Festival de Perigord Noir.

2019 – Ensemble Intercontemporain, for the very first time, performs his work. Dust of Light (2019).

2020 – Guest Artistic Director and Conductor of the Korean Music Festival at the Konzerthaus Berlin. / Enters Barenboim-Said Akademie, meets Jörg Widmann.

2021 – Guest lecturer and commissioned composer at the Banff Centre for the Arts and Creativity, Canada. / Parker Quartet premieres With Winds II (2021).

2022 – Commissioned composer for the VIVO Music Festival and Chamber Music Columbus, US. / Portrait concert of Choi's works at The House Concert, Korea with the ensemble blank.

2023 – Commissioned composer for Ensemble Intercontemporain, Philharmonie de Paris. Straight to Heaven (2023).

2024 – Portrait concert of Choi's works and others who influenced his music at with the Ensemble SORI, Korea.

– 3rd Prize, Bucharest International Conducting Competition

– Conductor & Composer: BBC Proms in Korea with ensemble blank: World Premiere of Clarinet Concerto ensemble version

Seong Ae Kim (she/ her) is a Korean-born composer based in New York City. A recent awardee of Jerome Hill Artist Grant, New Music USA Grant and Composers now/ Rockefeller Brothers fund fellowship, she has received commissions from internationally acclaimed ensembles and soloists such as Left Coast Chamber Ensemble, Amanda Gookin, Forward Music Project, Parhelion Trio, Hypercube, Ensemble mise-en, Ensemble Ipse, Popebama, Iktus Percussion+, Ensemble Pan, Multicultural Sonic Evolution, Josh Perry, Vasko Dukovsky, Kelley Barnett, and Jessica Kunttu among others.

Her recent works spanning the past 5 years have been acutely focused on amplifying self-truth and voicing social justice concerns. Compositions as #MeToo (2018), Break free (2022), Gravity-levity (2022), the other untold story (2019), Percèe (2018) and Collocation (2018) are self-confessional in nature. These pieces aim to tell her own stories of past breakthroughs and to create safe spaces to share vulnerabilities that connect us all as human beings. 

As an advocate for social justice, she has collaborated with fellow artists to create the pieces Mazyrinth (2022), 2 Folk songs (2022), We are here (2021), SIDE-BLOW (2021), Fever dream (2021), Red-blue-very white (2019) and sound of soundless (2016) to address current social crises. She lends her voice through these pieces to encourage those who are marginalized and voiceless to stand up and amplify themselves for their basic human rights.

Her works were presented at June in Buffalo, Composer’s conference, International Alliance of Women in Music, Women Composers Festival of Hartford, International double reed society, Audio Trending Manual Festival in Korea, New York Women Composers Inc. Festival, Music by Women Festival in Mississippi and Hot air music festival to name a few.

Her compositions have been performed by various ensembles and artists such as Andrés Orozco-Estrada, James Baker, Er-Gene Kahng, the Köhne Quartet, the Krechkovsky–Loucks Duo, Pro Arte Orchestra, Rath Duo, and Ensemble Hansori among others. Her music has been presented internationally on concert stages including Merkin Concert Hall, Roulette intermedium, The DiMenna Center, Opera America’s National Opera Center, Herbert von Karajan Centrum (Vienna, Austria), Seoul Arts Center (Seoul, South Korea), National Olympic Memorial Youth Center in Tokyo (Japan), Prince Mahidol Hall (Bangkok, Thailand), Tinugely Museum Basel (Switzerland), Alte Schmiede (Vienna, Austria), and Culture Tank Park (Seoul, South Korea) among others.

She holds a PhD in music composition from Stony Brook University, Mdiv from Drew University and an MA and BA in both composition and conducting from University for music and performing arts in Vienna, Austria (Einstimmige Auszeichnung- unanimous distinction).

Seonyoung Hwang is an active composer and orchestrator/arranger in South Korea. As a composer, her works have been performed both by private recitals and by larger ensembles seeking the opportunity to take part in a new and creative premiere. She became interested in orchestral music and gained experience as an orchestral librarian and arranger while working in various orchestras. Her arrangements have been performed by major orchestras, such as the Busan Philharmonic Orchestra, the Daegu Symphony Orchestra, and at various other important venues including the Asian Clarinet Festival and at the opening ceremony of the Busan International Film Festival. 

She earned her bachelor's degree (2007) and master's degree (2009) in composition from Busan National University. She has taught at Busan National University and has worked as a board member at An-ti Stimmung, a composer’s society in Busan. 

She is currently working as a music librarian with the Busan Philharmonic Orchestra in South Korea. She is also the director and arranger of Music LAB. Zzaim where she plans classical music concerts by adopting unique orchestrations, such as Debussy’s “Prélude à l'après-midi d'un faune” for chamber musicians of the flute, clarinet, and strings. She is currently an active member of the Busan Composer’s Society, the Contemporary Music Society of Busan, and An-ti Stimmung.