Orchestre symphonique de Montréal Kent Nagano, music director and conductor directeur musical et chef d'orchestre Viviane Hagner, violin / violon Unsuk Chin (1961- ) 1. Rocaná (Room of light/Espace de lumière) (2008) 20:57 Violin Concerto (2001) Concerto pour violon 2. Movement I 10:10 3. Movement II 7:14 4. Movement III 3:26 5. Movement IV 6:08 TOTAL: 48:09 2 Unsuk Chin, composer Unsuk Chin was born in 1961 in Seoul, Korea. She The texts of Chin’s vocal music are often based began to teach herself piano and music theory on experimental poetry, and occasionally self- at a very early age and subsequently studied referential, employing techniques such as composition at the Seoul National University with acrostics, anagrams, and palindromes, all of which Sukhi Kang. She also appeared as pianist at the are also reflected in the compositional structure. Pan Music Festivals. In 1984, her composition Playful aspects predominate also in Chin’s opera Gestalten (Figures) was selected for the ISCM Alice in Wonderland. Theatrical actions are World Music Days in Canada, and in 1986, for the employed in some instrumental pieces as well, UNESCO ‘Rostrum of Composers.’ In 1985, Chin including Allegro ma non troppo for percussion won the first prize of the Gaudeamus Stichting and tape, Cantatrix Sopranica for voices with Spektra for three celli. The same year, she and ensemble, and Double Bind? for violin and moved to Europe when she received a DAAD electronics. grant to study in Germany, and until 1988 took Unsuk Chin’s compositions have been performed composition lessons in Hamburg with György at numerous festivals and concert series in Ligeti, who encouraged her to look beyond the Europe, the Far East, and North America. She aesthetics of the current avant-garde. Since then, achieved her breakthrough with Akrostichon– Unsuk Chin has lived and worked in Berlin. Wortspiel (1991–93) for solo soprano and In 2004, Unsuk Chin won the prestigious ensemble, which has been programmed in Grawemeyer Award for Music Composition for her 15 countries to date by such leading ensembles Violin Concerto. as Ensemble Modern conducted by George Chin’s music is modern in language, but lyrical Benjamin, the Birmingham Contemporary Music and non-doctrinaire in communicative power. The Group conducted by Simon Rattle, the Nieuw colour of her music might perhaps be explained Ensemble of Amsterdam, the Asko Ensemble, by Chin’s affinity for non-European music and by the Ictus Ensemble, and the new music groups her occupation with electronic music. Chin’s of the Los Angeles Philharmonic and the fascination for polyrhythmic virtuosity is reflected Philharmonia Orchestra. Other works include in a series of Piano Etudes as well as in a series of Trojan Women for three female singers, female instrumental concertos and in her orchestral/ chorus, and orchestra, based on Euripides’ play, ensemble works. In her orchestral work Miroirs Fantaisie mécanique, Xi, and Double Concerto, des temps, Chin employed compositional all three commissioned by Ensemble Inter - concepts of medieval composers, such as contemporain, ParaMetaString, commissioned by Machaut and Ciconia, in an original way. 3 the Kronos Quartet, a Piano Concerto commissioned for two sopranos, countertenor, and ensemble, by the BBC for the BBC National Orchestra of which was co-commissioned by the London Wales, and Miroirs des temps, commissioned by Sinfonietta, the Los Angeles Philharmonic New the BBC for the Hilliard Ensemble and the London Music Group, the St. Pölten Festival (Austria), Philharmonic Orchestra. In 2000, Piano Etude Ensemble Intercontemporain, and Ensemble No. 6 (Grains) was commissioned by the South musikFabrik, as well as Rocaná for orchestra Bank Center on the occasion of Pierre Boulez's (2007), jointly commissioned by the Orchestre 75th birthday. Kalá for soloists, chorus, and symphonique de Montréal, the Bayerische orchestra was co-commissioned by the Danish Staatsoper, the Beijing Music Festival Arts Radio Symphony, the Gothenburg Symphony and Foundation, and the Seoul Philharmonic Oslo Philharmonic Orchestras, and premiered Orchestra. under the baton of Peter Eötvös in March 2001. In 1993 Chin was awarded first prize at the In addition, Unsuk Chin has been active in writing Competition for Orchestral Works to Comme - electronic music. She worked for years as a free- morate the Semicentennial of the Tokyo lance composer at the Electronic Music Studio Metropolitan Government, and in 1997 first prize of the Technical University of Berlin. In 2000, Chin for Contemporary Piano Music at the Concours was rewarded first prize at the Bourges International de Piano d'Orléans. She was International Competition for Electroacoustic awarded the 2005 Arnold Schoenberg Prize, Music for Xi for ensemble and electronics. Her and in 2007 the Heidelberger Künstlerinnenpreis latest piece in this genre, Double Bind? for violin and the prizes of the Kyung-Ahm and Daewon and electronics, was conceived at IRCAM and Foundations. premiered in 2007. Chin has been composer-in-residence with Chin was composer-in-residence with the Deutsches the Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra since 2006, Symphonie-Orchester Berlin in 2001/02, culmina- where she also serves as Artistic Director of the ting in the commission of a Violin Concerto, Contemporary Music Series. In 2007, Chin was premiered in January 2002 with Viviane Hagner the featured composer at the festivals in as soloist and Kent Nagano as conductor. Manchester, Umea, Turin/Milan, and Strasbourg. The concerto has since been performed in ten Her opera received its countries in Europe, Asia, and North America. Alice in Wonderland world premiere on 30 June 2007 at the Bavarian Other recent works include snagS&Snarls (2003– State Opera in Munich as the opening performance 04) for soprano and orchestra, commissioned by Los of the Munich Opera Festival. The production, Angeles Opera, Cantatrix Sopranica (2004–05) 4 Unsuk Chin, compositrice directed by Achim Freyer and conducted by Kent Née à Séoul en Corée en 1961, Unsuk Chin s’initie Nagano, was named ‘World Premiere of the Year’ très jeune au piano et à la théorie musicale. Elle in the annual survey of opera critics published entre ensuite à l’Université nationale de Séoul in the yearbook of Die Opernwelt. Future pro- où elle suit des cours de composition avec Sukhi jects include a Cello Concerto for Alban Gerhardt, Kang. Elle se produit également comme pianiste a Concerto for Sheng and Orchestra commissioned aux Pan Music Festivals. Gestalten (Figures) est by Tokyo’s Suntory Hall, the Los Angeles retenue pour les journées mondiales de la Philharmonic, Zaterdagsmatinee Amsterdam, musique de la Société internationale de musique and the Essen Philharmonie, and new worksfor contemporaine au Canada et pour la Tribune Ensemble Modern and Ensemble Intercon - internationale des compositeurs de l’Unesco en temporain, the latter in collaboration with IRCAM. 1986. En 1985, Chin remporte le premier prix de la Chin is also one of the composers taking part in fondation Gaudeamus avec Spektra for three the project “into” sponsored by Ensemble celli. Une bourse du DAAD lui permet de suivre Modern and the Siemens Arts Program. des cours avec György Ligeti à l’académie de musique de Hambourg de 1985 à 1988. Depuis Unsuk Chin is published exclusively by Boosey & 1988, elle vit à Berlin et y travaille. En 2004, elle Hawkes. se voit remettre le prestigieux Prix Grawemeyer Reprinted by kind permission of Boosey & Hawkes de composition pour son Concerto pour violon. La musique de Mme Chin est moderne par son langage, mais lyrique et non-doctrinaire par son pouvoir communicatif. Sa couleur peut être expliquée par son affinité avec la musique non- européenne et par son intérêt pour la musique électronique. Sa fascination pour la virtuosité polyrythmique se transmet dans une série d’études pour piano de même que de nombreux concertos instrumentaux ainsi que dans ses œuvres orchestrales et pour ensembles. Dans Miroirs des temps, pour orchestre, Chin s’est inspirée des concepts des compositeurs médié- vistes, tels Machaut et Ciconia, pour les traiter de façon originale. 5 Les textes des pages vocales de Mme Chin sont et Miroirs des temps, commande de la BBC pour souvent basés sur la poésie expérimentale et se l’Ensemble Hilliard et le London Philharmonic veulent parfois autoréférentiels, que ce soit en Orchestra. En 2000, Piano Etude No. 6 (Grains) employant des techniques comme l’acrostiche, a été commandée par le South Bank Center lors les anagrammes ou les palindromes, formes du 75e anniversaire de naissance de Pierre Boulez. reflétées également dans la structure composition- Kalá, commande des orchestres symphoniques nelle même des œuvres. La badinerie prédomine de la Radio danoise, de Gothenburg et d’Oslo, aussi dans son opéra Alice in Wonderland. Des a été créée sous la direction de Peter Eötvös en mesures théâtrales sont également prises dans mars 2001. De plus, Unsuk Chin demeure particu- certaines pièces instrumentales dont Allegro ma lièrement active dans le domaine de la musique non troppo pour percussion et bande, Cantatrix électronique. Elle a travaillé pendant plusieurs Sopranica pour voix et ensemble et Double années comme compositrice pigiste du Studio Bind?, pour violon et électronique. de musique électronique de l’Université tech- nique de Berlin. Sa plus récente pièce du genre, Ses œuvres sont données dans de nombreux Double Bind? pour violon et électronique, a été festivals et séries de concerts, en Europe, en conçue à l’IRCAM et