Donghoon Shin
• Donghoon Shin is one of the outstanding South Korean composers of the younger generation
• has attracted attention particularly for his dynamic and colourful ensemble and orchestral works
• sets up contrapuntal conversations between layers which in turn generate harmonies
• invents startling new colours from imaginative combinations of instruments
• often juxtaposes disparate elements to create new meanings, exploring J.L. Borges’s ideas about intertextuality
• has long admired the emotional charge in the music of Mahler and Berg and pursued a refined modern equivalent
• compositional mentors include Sukhi Kang, George Benjamin, Unsuk Chin, Julian Anderson and Peter Eötvös
• winner of the 2016 Royal Philharmonic Society Composition Prize and 2022 Claudio Abbado Composition Prize
• works performed by leading groups including London Symphony Orchestra, Karajan Academy of the Berlin Philharmonic, Helsinki Philharmonic, Ensemble Intercontemporain and Ensemble Recherche
• resident in London since 2014
Works by Donghoon Shin include:
Kafka’s Dream (2018/19) for orchestra [Ricordi]
Double Act (2022) Double concerto for sheng, accordion and orchestra
Upon His Ghostly Solitude (2023) for orchestra
Also visit Donghoon Shin’s website at www.donghoonshin.com.
Shin’s early compositions are published by Ricordi.
Looking Ahead: new Threadsuns (viola concerto) for Amihai Groz performed by Berlin Philharmonic and Tugan Sokhiev (9-11 Jan 2025)
“…moments of trance-like stillness and tumultuous forward motion… the ecstasy, longing and panic of dream states was perfectly caught.”
Daily Telegraph