Shinuh Lee

It has been said that Shinuh Lee is a composer who ponders seriously about the origins and nature of human existence and, therefore, her works are the result of such thoughts. Lee's reflection touches on the universal pain and emotion of heartbreak of humans in the secular world, but she is a composer who is ultimately finding the consolation and language of healing in regard to these things. The composition of Psalm 20 for orchestra marked a turning point in Lee’s life. This is a piece which
bathes in a unique Eastern colour through a transformative use of heterophony. It is based on her research into Psalms and ancient Hebrew music, and her experience on this research motivated her
subsequent pieces. Perhaps most significantly this work begins to explore the very nature and origin of human existence, and sets into a motion a preoccupation that follows Lee’s music to the present day. This preoccupation begins to emerge in Invisible Hands for violin and orchestra (2000/2002) and An Open Door for strings (2004) intensified in her later works. Her works are being performed by many orchestras, ensembles and soloists including the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra, Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra, KBS Symphony Orchestra, Korean
Symphony Orchestra, Asko Ensemble, Ixion Ensemble, Ensemble Opus and Seoul Virtuosi. Recently her Symphonic Poem Yeomillak commissioned by Sejong City, was performed by Sejong Soloists at many major venues including Seoul Arts Center and Carnegie Zankel Hall. Lee studied composition with Sukhi Kang at Seoul National University and later with Michael Finnissy
at the Royal Academy of Music in London and the University of Sussex. She won many prizes including the Royal Philharmonic Society Prize for Composers and the Musical Times Composers’ Competition. She was also awarded the Korean Composition Award, AhnIckTae Composition Prize, Korean Race Composition Award, Nanpa Music Award, and Young Artist Today Award from the Ministry of Culture and Tourism in Korea. She has been a professor in composition at College of Music, Seoul National University since 1999, and has also worked as an artistic director to Studio2021 since 2003. She was appointed as
ARAM(Associate of the Royal Academy of Music) from the Royal Academy of Music in 2019.