Unsuk Chin’s life
The big moments of this life, and what was happening in the world at the same time.
A life at a glance
- 1961👶 Birth
Born in Seoul on 14 July; her father is a pastor
- 1964🌍 Meanwhile
Robert Moog presents his synthesizer
- 1969🌍 Meanwhile
First steps on the Moon
- 1970📚 Trainingage 9
Teaches herself piano and music theory almost unaided
- 1982🌍 Meanwhile
The compact disc (CD) is launched
- 1985🧳 Journeyage 24
Moves to Germany to study with György Ligeti in Hamburg
- 1991🎼 Workage 30
Acrostic Wordplay, for soprano and ensemble
- 1991🌍 Meanwhile
The World Wide Web is born
- 2001🎼 Workage 40
Violin Concerto
- 2004🎩 Careerage 43
Grawemeyer Award for her Violin Concerto
- 2006🎩 Careerage 45
Composer in residence with the Seoul Philharmonic
- 2007🎼 Workage 46
Alice in Wonderland, opera premiered in Munich
Listen to the music
Press the big button to listen. Close your eyes: how does it make you feel?
Unsuk Chin’s music is still recent: it belongs to its creators and their families. Ask a grown-up to play it for you on the radio or at a concert!
Once upon a time…
Unsuk Chin was born in Seoul, South Korea. Her family did not have much money. As a girl she played the piano at her dad’s church and taught herself music almost entirely, reading books and copying scores by hand.
She went to study in Germany with the great composer Ligeti, who was very strict with her. She even stopped composing for three years! Then she found her own way of writing.
Her music is full of imagination, colour and humour. She wrote an opera about Alice in Wonderland and a concerto for the sheng, a Chinese instrument more than three thousand years old!
She lives in Berlin today.
Unsuk Chin’s instruments
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