Composer.Musician

IL-RYUN CHUNG

Artistic Profile



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Il-Ryun Chung was born in Germany and has spent his life navigating the cultures of both Korea and Germany. Due to the "East Berlin Affair"—an incident that deeply affected his parents—he lived in Korea for part of his childhood; this marked the only time he resided in his parents' homeland, as they never returned there themselves. Caught between the tensions of military dictatorship in Korea and the temporary feeling of foreignness in Germany, he evolved into a distinctive artist with a unique signature style. The ability to stand both within and outside these respective cultures has profoundly shaped his music and remains the wellspring of his creative work to this day.

Key Facts

1964 Born in Frankfurt am Main.
1967–71 Childhood years in Seoul, Korea.
1979 Late discovery of a passion for music. Self-taught guitar playing and initial attempts at composition. Discovery of Korean *Gugak* music, particularly the *gayageum* and *janggu* instruments.
1985–90 Initial and pivotal instruction in composition and guitar with Carlo Domeniconi.
1990–95 Studied composition under Prof. Jolyon Brettingham-Smith at the HdK Berlin (Berlin University of the Arts).
1992–2000 Regular encounters with janggu maestro Kim Duk-Soo, whose *SamulNori* music had a decisive influence on him; learned to play the janggu in Kim’s Berlin workshops.
2001 Co-founded the trans-traditional ensemble IIIZ+; co-founded the AsianArt Ensemble in 2009. Invited to perform and present compositions at festivals such as the "Festival de l’Imaginaire" in Paris, "38e Rugissants" in Grenoble, the Taiwan Festival, and the Tokyo Summer Festival. Received awards including the "German Record Critics' Award" (Preis der Deutschen Schallplattenkritik) in 2012 for the AsianArt Ensemble’s debut CD, as well as several composition grants from the Berlin Senate Department for Culture.
Since 1999 Working on two series of works: "Etudes on New Playing Techniques for Guitar" and "The Non-Tempered Guitar." Serving as an internal field of experimentation, this work is the source for breaking away from equal temperament through the use of scales with microtonal intervals, instrument preparations, and microtonally tuned instruments such as the harp, guitar, or zithers.
Since 2000 Engaged with computer-based sampling technology; exploring polymetric ideas, entirely new sound combinations involving unfamiliar instruments, and novel tunings and scales—all while striving for the most naturalistic sound possible.
2008: Commissioned by the Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra for the "Ars Nova" concert series curated by Unsuk Chin; 2009: Commissioned by the Tokyo Summer Festival to create works for large ensemble. Creation of the "Diptychon of Mallets"—comprising the works "GLUT" and "BENU"—two key works for a purely Western instrumental lineup that synthesize insights gained from the complex rhythmic structures of Korean music, janggu-performance, and sampling techniques.
2009: Commissioned by the National Orchestra of Korea (under the artistic direction of Hwang Byunki) to compose a full-length orchestral work for Korean instruments. Study trip to Korea; sampling of all the orchestra's Korean instruments and creation of a custom sample library. Through the study of archaic, primal Korean instruments, the realization that dissonance need not merely arise from the simultaneous sounding of multiple notes; rather, a single note can possess inherent dissonance due to inharmonic overtone spectra, without requiring extended playing techniques. Exploration of the sharpness, roughness, and flexibility of the individual note as a structural element within the overall composition.
2011: Two performances of the 80-minute concert work "Part of Nature" at the National Theater of Korea in Seoul.
2012–2022: Compositions for ensembles combining Asian and Western instruments, including "GRAVITY" for *daegeum*, *sheng*, bass *koto*, and ensemble—commissioned by the Ernst von Siemens Music Foundation for the SOUNDSCAPE EAST ASIA festival—and "SKALA" for a trans-traditional ensemble.
2013 "Part of Nature" was performed again at the National Theater of Korea, conducted by Won Il, the National Orchestra of Korea’s artistic director and conductor.
2014: Premiere of the epic music drama "Kassandra" for *pansori* and Korean instruments at the National Gugak Center in Seoul.
2016: Composer-in-residence with the National Orchestra of Korea. 2017 Artistic Director of the TURBULENZEN festival for contemporary intercultural music.
2019 Professorship in Composition and New Music at the Academy of Music (Akademie für Tonkunst) in Darmstadt.
2023 World premiere of the work "Cycle – Concerto for Sheng and Chinese Orchestra" by sheng virtuoso Wu Wei and the Kaohsiung Chinese Orchestra in Taiwan.
2024 Composer-in-residence for the "Music of Tomorrow" project in Seoul.
2024 Portrait concerts in Tokyo and Yokohama at the invitation of marimba virtuoso Kuniko Kato.
2025 Video production of his complete works for guitar.
2026 World premiere of the symphony "Saesangae – In Our World" for *gugak* orchestra, composed for the Seoul Metropolitan Traditional Orchestra.