S U N G J I H O N G
B I O G R A P H Y
"a work of iridescent freshness"
- BBC Music Magazine
Sungji Hong's compositions include works for solo instruments, orchestra, chorus, ballet and electroacoustic media with special interest on timbre and pre-determined pitch structures. In a Citation awarded by the American Academy of Arts and Letters, "At times complex and at times straightforward, her passionate music uses precise timbres to unfold dramatic, virtuoso gestures, iridescent colors, and vivid, atmospheric auras."
Her honors include fellowships from the John Simon Guggenheim Foundation, Civitella Ranieri Foundation, the American Academy of Arts and Letters, commissions from the The Chicago Center for Contemporary Composition at the University of Chicago, the Fromm Music Foundation at Harvard University, the National Flute Association, Texas Flute Society, Furman University Clarinet Ensemble, the MATA Festival, Lorelei Ensemble, the Tongyeong International Music Festival, Kumho Asiana Cultural Foundation, the Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra and Ensemble TIMF. Her Missa Lumen de Lumine on the ECM New Series (ECM 1929), performed by the vocal ensemble Trio Mediaeval, received critical acclaim and reached the top ten on the Billboard Classical Chart and iTunes classics.
Her music has been performed by leading players and ensembles in over 47 countries and 236 cities. Her music has been widely broadcast in more than 17 countries (55 channels) and has been recorded and released on the Soundbrush, Elektramusic, Atoll, Dutton label and by ECM Records. Her music is published by Tetractys Publishing.
She has won the Kazimierz Serocki (1st Prize), Franz Josef Reinl-Stiftung (1st Prize), Magistralia (1st Prize), Ilshin Composition Prize (1st Prize), In Nova Musica Competition (1st Prize), the Jesus Villa Rojo (1st Prize), the European Competition of the State Conservatory of Thessaloniki (1st Prize), the Temple Music Composition Prize (1st Prize), the Crwth Competition (1st Prize), the international competition for original ballet music at the ISCM World Music Days – Slovenia (1st Prize), the Montserrat International Camera Music Composition Competition (1st Prize), the Salvatore Martirano Composition Competition (2nd Prize), the Dimitris Mitropoulos International Competition (2nd Prize), the Theodore Front Prize (IAWM), the Yoshiro Irino Memorial Prize (ACL), the Christian Fellowship of Art Music Composers Scholarship, and the British Chevening Scholarship.
Her works have been performed by the Radio and Television Symphony Orchestra of Belgrade, the Orchestra of Slovenian National Theatre Opera and Ballet, the Jenaer Philharmonie, Oviedo Filharmonia, the Orchestra of Opera North, the Orchestra of Colours, the Thessaloniki State Symphony Orchestra, the Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra, the Suwon Philharmonic Orchestra, the Masan Philharmonic Orchestra, the Seinäjoki City Chamber Orchestra, the City of London Sinfonia, the Soloists of the Royal Opera House Covent Garden, Yeongnam Philharmonic Soloists, the Soloists of the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, Volti Chamber Choir, Seattle Pro Musica, Renaissance Voices, Con Spirito, the New York Virtuoso Singers, Lorelei Ensemble, Aella Choir, iSing Silicon Valley, In Mulieribus, Seraphour, Trio Artemisia, Dulciana Vocal Ensemble, the BBC Singers, the Choir of the Temple Church in London, Trio Mediaeval, Ensemble Creations, Harry Sparnaay, Sarah Watts, Jason Noble, Carla Rees, Jiyoung Lee, Eun Hae Oh, Jennie Oh Brown, Elizabeth McNutt, Kelley Barnett, Laura Faoro, Jung Choi, Aleksandra Panasik, Sooyeon Lim, Jihye Chang, Maiko Matsuoka, Wendy Case, Hae-Sun Kang, Arditti String Quartet, Ensemble Concorde, Nieuw Ensemble of Amsterdam, Kammerensemble Neue Musik Berlin, Ensemble Linea, Ensemble Accroche Note, Moscow Contemporary Music Ensemble, Caput Ensemble, Next Mushroom Promotion, Ensemble cross.art, Ensemble Mosaik, UMS 'n JIP, dissonArt ensemble, Ensemble Avantgarde, Eutopia Ensemble, Hard Rain Soloist Ensemble, Phidias Trio Tokyo, QUARTZ ensamble, Onix Ensemble, Ensemble Offspring, Ensemble Sonomania, Traiect Ensemble, Extraordinary Stroma, Trio Sirènes, TrioPolis, Texas New Music Ensemble, ensemble NOISE, Juventas New Music Ensemble, Kassia Ensemble, Ensemble Mise-en, Ensemble Intercontemporain, and Ensemble TIMF.
Sungji Hong, born in Seoul in 1973, studied composition with Kyungsun Suh at the Hanyang University in Seoul. Subsequently completed her MMus with Robert Saxton and Paul Patterson at the Royal Academy of Music in London, respectively, and also with Michael Finnissy, and her Ph.D. in composition with Thomas Simaku, John Stringer, and Nicola LeFanu at the University of York in the UK. She has participated in various workshops and masterclasses such as Voix Nouvelles (Royaumont) and in Darmstadt where she studied with Brian Ferneyhough, Jonathan Harvey, Theo Loevendie, Tristan Murail and Toshio Hosokawa, as well as the International mastercourse and workshop for conductors and composers with Péter Eötvös and Zsolt Nagy in Herrenhaus Edenkoben.
Hong is an Assistant Professor of Music Composition at the University of North Texas.
「Composer Spotlight: Sungji Hong」 Written by Josh Rodriguez
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