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64-513: Unsuk Chin (Korean: 진은숙 [tɕin ɯn.suk] ; born July 14, 1961) is a South Korean composer of contemporary classical music , who is based in Berlin, Germany. Chin was a self-taught pianist from a young age and studied composition at Seoul National University as well as with György Ligeti at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater Hamburg . The recipient of numerous awards , she won

128-532: A singer in a choir , as a player in a youth orchestra , or as a performer on a solo instrument (e.g., piano , pipe organ , or violin ). Teens aspiring to be composers can continue their postsecondary studies in a variety of formal training settings, including colleges, conservatories, and universities. Conservatories , which are the standard musical training system in countries such as France and Canada, provide lessons and amateur orchestral and choral singing experience for composition students. Universities offer

192-467: A breeze, to avant-garde music from the 20th century that uses graphic notation , to text compositions such as Aus den Sieben Tagen , to computer programs that select sounds for musical pieces. Music that makes heavy use of randomness and chance is called aleatoric music , and is associated with contemporary composers active in the 20th century, such as John Cage , Morton Feldman , and Witold Lutosławski . The nature and means of individual variation of

256-567: A career as a baker. In grade school, he played French horn and violin, and first conducted at age 12. He later studied horn, composition, and conducting as a college student at the Royal Academy of Music in London . After his college years, Robertson began to receive conducting offers in Europe and performed often in both symphonic and operatic repertoire. His early career lectured under

320-426: A composition professor , ensemble experience, and graduate courses in music history and music theory, along with one or two concerts featuring the composition student's pieces. A master's degree in music (referred to as an M.Mus. or M.M.) is often a required minimum credential for people who wish to teach composition at a university or conservatory. A composer with an M.Mus. could be an adjunct professor or instructor at

384-412: A culture eventually developed whereby faithfulness to the composer's written intention came to be highly valued (see, for example, Urtext edition ). This musical culture is almost certainly related to the high esteem (bordering on veneration) in which the leading classical composers are often held by performers. The historically informed performance movement has revived to some extent the possibility of

448-432: A given place is referred to as performance practice , whereas interpretation is generally used to mean the individual choices of a performer. Although a musical composition often has a single author, this is not always the case. A work of music can have multiple composers, which often occurs in popular music when a band collaborates to write a song, or in musical theatre , where the songs may be written by one person,

512-677: A group of contemporary music concerts with the Pulitzer Arts Foundation and a series of "Fusion Concerts" at the Touhill Performing Arts Center of the University of Missouri–St. Louis . In September 2006, the SLSO announced the extension of Robertson's contract through 2010, with a clause to allow for yearly renewal. As of November 2009, his SLSO contract was through the 2011-2012 season. Following

576-862: A one-year extension of his contract announced in July 2017. Robertson's other work in contemporary music has included serving as Festival Director for the Los Angeles Philharmonic 's January 2008 Concrete Frequency Festival, as well as Music Director of the 2008 Ojai Music Festival in Ojai, California. His work in opera has included several appearances at the Metropolitan Opera , including Janáček 's The Makropulos Affair (1996), Mozart 's Die Entführung aus dem Serail (2008), Britten 's Billy Budd (2012). and Mozart's The Marriage of Figaro in 2012. Robertson also conducted

640-441: A performer of Western popular music creates a "cover" of an earlier song, there is little expectation of exact rendition of the original; nor is exact faithfulness necessarily highly valued (with the possible exception of "note-for-note" transcriptions of famous guitar solos ). In Western art music, the composer typically orchestrates their compositions, but in musical theatre and pop music, songwriters may hire an arranger to do

704-473: A range of composition programs, including bachelor's degrees, Master of Music degrees, and Doctor of Musical Arts degrees. As well, there are a variety of other training programs such as classical summer camps and festivals, which give students the opportunity to get coaching from composers. Bachelor's degrees in composition (referred to as B.Mus. or B.M) are four-year programs that include individual composition lessons, amateur orchestra/choral experience, and

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768-453: A sequence of courses in music history, music theory, and liberal arts courses (e.g., English literature), which give the student a more well-rounded education. Usually, composition students must complete significant pieces or songs before graduating. Not all composers hold a B.Mus. in composition; composers may also hold a B.Mus. in music performance or music theory. Master of Music degrees (M.mus.) in composition consists of private lessons with

832-454: A subsequent contract renewal through 2014, his SLSO contract was extended, in January 2013, through the 2015-2016 season.c In March 2014, the orchestra and Robertson announced a further extension of his SLSO contract through the 2017-2018 season. In December 2016, the SLSO and Robertson jointly announced an additional one-year extension of his contract through the 2018-2019 season, which was

896-467: A tendency to cluster in specific cities throughout history. Based on over 12,000 prominent composers listed in Grove Music Online and using word count measurement techniques, the most important cities for classical music can be quantitatively identified. Paris has been the main hub for western classical music in all periods. It was ranked fifth in the 15th and 16th centuries but first in

960-686: A university, but it would be difficult in the 2010s to obtain a tenure track professor position with this degree. To become a tenure track professor, many universities require a doctoral degree . In composition, the key doctoral degree is the Doctor of Musical Arts , rather than the PhD ; the PhD is awarded in music, but typically for subjects such as musicology and music theory . Doctor of Musical Arts (referred to as D.M.A., DMA, D.Mus.A. or A.Mus.D) degrees in composition provide an opportunity for advanced study at

1024-635: A variety of ways. In much popular music, the composer writes a composition , and it is then transmitted via oral tradition . Conversely, in some Western classical traditions music may be composed aurally—i.e. "in the mind of the musician"—and subsequently written and passed through written documents . In the development of European classical music , the function of composing music initially did not have much greater importance than that of performing it. The preservation of individual compositions did not receive enormous attention and musicians generally had no qualms about modifying compositions for performance. In

1088-492: A very difficult time breaking through and getting the credit they deserve." During the Medieval eras, most of the art music was created for liturgical (religious) purposes and due to the views about the roles of women that were held by religious leaders, few women composed this type of music, with the nun Hildegard von Bingen being among the exceptions. Most university textbooks on the history of music discuss almost exclusively

1152-537: Is based on a play by Euripides , and Le silence des Sirènes juxtaposes texts by Homer and James Joyce . Playful aspects are dominant also in Chin's opera Alice in Wonderland , which is based on Lewis Carroll's classic of the same name. The opera's libretto was written by David Henry Hwang and the composer. The Munich production, which has been released on DVD by Unitel, was directed by Achim Freyer , and it

1216-480: Is pianist Orli Shaham , the sister of violinist Gil Shaham . Robertson and Shaham first met at a January 1999 SLSO concert, which was the SLSO debut for both of them. They married on January 3, 2003. She is mother to their twin boys, Nathan Glenn, and Alex Jacob, born September 15, 2007. The family makes its home in New York City. Robertson has two grown sons, Peter and Jonathan, from his second marriage to

1280-404: Is termed "interpretation". Different performers' interpretations of the same work of music can vary widely, in terms of the tempos that are chosen and the playing or singing style or phrasing of the melodies. Composers and songwriters who present their music are interpreting, just as much as those who perform the music of others. The standard body of choices and techniques present at a given time and

1344-604: The Baroque music era, many composers were employed by aristocrats or as church employees. During the Classical period , composers began to organize more public concerts for profit, which helped composers to be less dependent on aristocratic or church jobs. This trend continued in the Romantic music era in the 19th century. In the 20th century, composers began to seek employment as professors in universities and conservatories. In

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1408-570: The Hochschule für Musik und Theater Hamburg from 1985 to 1988. In 1988, Chin worked as a freelance composer at the electronic music studio of Technische Universität Berlin , realizing seven works. Her first electronic piece was Gradus ad Infinitum , which was composed in 1989. Her first large orchestral piece, Die Troerinnen (1986, rev.1990), for women's voices, was premiered by the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra in 1990. In 1991, her breakthrough work Acrostic Wordplay

1472-531: The Renaissance music era, composers typically worked for aristocratic employers. While aristocrats typically required composers to produce a significant amount of religious music, such as Masses , composers also penned many non-religious songs on the topic of courtly love : the respectful, reverential love of a great woman from afar. Courtly love songs were very popular during the Renaissance era. During

1536-523: The St. Louis Symphony Orchestra (SLSO) began in January 1999 when he made his first conducting appearance with the orchestra. Robertson's second appearance with the SLSO occurred in February 2002 at Carnegie Hall after the SLSO's then-music director Hans Vonk withdrew a few days before the concert due to health problems. Robertson agreed to substitute, and he and the orchestra had only one rehearsal before

1600-400: The orchestration of the accompaniment parts and writing of the overture is done by an orchestrator, and the words may be written by a third person. A piece of music can also be composed with words, images, or, in the 20th and 21st centuries, computer programs that explain or notate how the singer or musician should create musical sounds. Examples of this range from wind chimes jingling in

1664-427: The 17th to 20th centuries inclusive. London was the second most meaningful city: eighth in the 15th century, seventh in the 16th, fifth in the 17th, second in the 18th and 19th centuries, and fourth in the 20th century. Rome topped the rankings in the 15th century, dropped to second in the 16th and 17th centuries, eighth in the 18th century, ninth in the 19th century but back at sixth in the 20th century. Berlin appears in

1728-721: The 2004 Grawemeyer Award for her Violin Concerto No. 1 , the 2010 Music Composition Prize of the Prince Pierre Foundation for the ensemble piece Gougalōn and the Ernst von Siemens Music Prize in 2024. In 2019, writers of The Guardian ranked her Cello Concerto (2009) the 11th greatest work of art music since 2000, with Andrew Clements describing it as "perhaps the most original and entertainingly disconcerting of all of [her concertos], cast in four brilliant movements that never quite conform to type". Unsuk Chin

1792-1001: The 2014 Lucerne Festival , the Festival Musica in Strasbourg, the Suntory Summer Festival, the 2013 Stockholm Concert Hall's Tonsätterfestival and at Settembre Musica in Italy. In 2001/2002, she was appointed composer-in-residence at Deutschen Symphonie-Orchester Berlin . Chin was closely associated with the Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra from 2006 to 2017, at invitation from Myung-whun Chung, as their composer-in-residence and director of their Ars Nova Series for contemporary music, which she founded herself and in which more than 200 Korean premieres of central works of classical modernism and contemporary music were being presented. Chin later became

1856-422: The 20th century, composers also earned money from the sales of their works, such as sheet music publications of their songs or pieces or as sound recordings of their works. In 1993, American musicologist Marcia Citron asked, "Why is music composed by women so marginal to the standard 'classical' repertoire?" Citron "examines the practices and attitudes that have led to the exclusion of women composers from

1920-774: The German writer Ane Dahm. Robertson received the Seaver/National Endowment for the Arts Conductors Award in 1997. In December 1999, Musical America named David Robertson Conductor of the Year. Robertson received the 2006 Ditson Conductor's Award from Columbia University for his championing of American music. In April 2010, Robertson was elected a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. On May 15, 2010, Robertson received

1984-562: The SLSO, Robertson has conducted several commercial recordings of music of John Adams (composer) for the Nonesuch label. These works include: In February 2005, Robertson was named the principal guest conductor of the BBC Symphony Orchestra (BBC SO) and he assumed that post later in the year, in parallel with the beginning of his St. Louis tenure. On September 12, 2009, Robertson became the second American conductor and

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2048-827: The Utah Symphony in December 2021. In December 2022, the Utah Symphony announced the appointment of Robertson as its first-ever creative partner, effective with the 2023-2024 season, with a contract of 3 years. Robertson has recorded for the Sony Classical, Harmonia Mundi, Naive, EMI/Virgin Classics, Atlantic/Erato, Nuema, Ades Valois, Naxos and Nonesuch labels, featuring the music of such composers as Adams, Bartók, Boulez, Carter, Dusapin, Dvorák, Ginastera, Lalo, Manoury, Milhaud, Reich, Saint-Saëns, and Silvestrov. Robertson has been married three times. His third wife

2112-466: The Western world, before the Romantic period of the 19th century, composition almost always went side by side with a combination of either singing, instructing and theorizing . Even in a conventional Western piece of instrumental music, in which all of the melodies , chords , and basslines are written out in musical notation, the performer has a degree of latitude to add artistic interpretation to

2176-406: The art of pantomime and by Samuel Beckett . Composer A composer is a person who writes music . The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music , or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. The term is descended from Latin , compōnō ; literally "one who puts together". The earliest use of

2240-481: The compositional structure. Consequently, Chin has set music to poems by writers such as Inger Christensen , Harry Mathews , Gerhard Rühm or Unica Zürn into music, and the title of Cantatrix Sopranica is derived from a nonsense treatise by Georges Perec . However, in Kalá , Chin has also composed works with less experimental texts by writers such as Gunnar Ekelöf , Paavo Haavikko , and Arthur Rimbaud . Troerinnen

2304-592: The concert. He later appeared with the SLSO in March 2003. The SLSO named Robertson its next Music Director in December 2003, effective with the 2005-2006 season. In April 2005, Robertson led the SLSO for the second time in a Carnegie Hall concert, after a labor dispute at the SLSO was resolved. Robertson conducted the SLSO in Carnegie Hall again in November 2005, March and April 2006, and March 2007. Robertson

2368-528: The definition of composition is broad enough for the creation of popular and traditional music songs and instrumental pieces and to include spontaneously improvised works like those of free jazz performers and African percussionists such as Ewe drummers . During the Middle Ages, most composers worked for the Catholic church and composed music for religious services such as plainchant melodies. During

2432-667: The degree Doctor of Music honoris causa from Westminster Choir College in Princeton, New Jersey. In October 2011, Robertson was named a Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres by the Ministry of Culture of France. His recording of John Adams' 'City Noir' won a Grammy. His recording of Porgy and Bess also won a Grammy, and his recording of John Adams' Scheherazade.2 was nominated for a Grammy, and he has had two other Grammy nominations. Along with Diana Doherty , Sydney Symphony Orchestra , Nigel Westlake and Synergy Vocals, Robertson

2496-655: The first production of The Death of Klinghoffer at the Metropolitan Opera in October 2014. In February 2018, the Juilliard School announced the appointment of Robertson as its next director of conducting studies, effective with the 2018-2019 academic year. Robertson first guest-conducted the Utah Symphony in October 2020. He returned for an additional guest-conducting engagement with

2560-832: The first standing BBC SO principal guest conductor to conduct the Last Night of the Proms . He concluded his tenure as the BBC SO's principal guest conductor in August 2012. Robertson first guest-conducted the Sydney Symphony Orchestra in 2003. In 2014, he became the Sydney Symphony Orchestra's chief conductor and artistic adviser. He concluded his tenure in Sydney in December 2019, following

2624-503: The guidance of faculty composition professors. Some schools require DMA composition students to present concerts of their works, which are typically performed by singers or musicians from the school. The completion of advanced coursework and a minimum B average are other typical requirements of a D.M.A program. During a D.M.A. program, a composition student may get experience teaching undergraduate music students. Some composers did not complete composition programs, but focused their studies on

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2688-552: The highest artistic and pedagogical level, requiring usually an additional 54+ credit hours beyond a master's degree (which is about 30+ credits beyond a bachelor's degree). For this reason, admission is highly selective. Students must submit examples of their compositions. If available, some schools will also accept video or audio recordings of performances of the student's pieces. Examinations in music history, music theory, ear training/dictation, and an entrance examination are required. Students must prepare significant compositions under

2752-405: The increased use by composers of more detailed scoring in the form of dynamics, articulation et cetera; composers became uniformly more explicit in how they wished their music to be interpreted, although how strictly and minutely these are dictated varies from one composer to another. Because of this trend of composers becoming increasingly specific and detailed in their instructions to the performer,

2816-549: The intended time for the close of his SLSO tenure. However, in June 2017, the orchestra noted an update to Robertson's contract, with a newly scheduled conclusion of his music directorship at the close of the 2017-2018 season, in a reversion of the December 2016 situation. Robertson stood down as SLSO music director in 2018. During Robertson's tenure, the SLSO made its first-ever appearance at The Proms in September 2012. With

2880-400: The mid-20th century was Nadia Boulanger . Philips states that "[d]uring the 20th century the women who were composing/playing gained far less attention than their male counterparts." Women today are being taken more seriously in the realm of concert music, though the statistics of recognition, prizes, employment, and overall opportunities are still biased toward men. Famous composers have

2944-400: The music are varied, depending on the musical culture in the country and the time period it was written. For instance, music composed in the Baroque era , particularly in slow tempos, often was written in bare outline, with the expectation that the performer would add improvised ornaments to the melody line during a performance. Such freedom generally diminished in later eras, correlating with

3008-1335: The orchestra's artistic adviser. From 2011 to 2020, she oversaw the London-based Philharmonia Orchestra's Music of Today series at the invitation of its then chief conductor Esa-Pekka Salonen. Chin has been appointed Artistic Director of the Tongyeong International Music Festival from 2022 onwards. Chin does not regard her music as belonging to any specific culture. Chin names Béla Bartók , Igor Stravinsky , Claude Debussy , Anton Webern , Iannis Xenakis , and György Ligeti , among others, as 20th-century composers of special importance for her. Chin regards her working experience with electronic music and her preoccupation with Balinese Gamelan as influential for her work. In her orchestral work Miroirs des temps , Chin has also used compositional concepts of Medieval composers, such as Machaut and Ciconia , by employing and evolving techniques such as musical palindromes and crab canons . The texts of Chin's vocal music are often based on experimental poetry, and occasionally they are self-referential, employing techniques such as acrostics, anagrams and palindromes, all of which are also reflected in

3072-435: The orchestration. In some cases, a pop songwriter may not use notation at all, and, instead, compose the song in their mind and then play or record it from memory. In jazz and popular music, notable recordings by influential performers are given the weight that written scores play in classical music. The study of composition has traditionally been dominated by the examination of methods and practice of Western classical music, but

3136-455: The performance of voice or an instrument or on music theory , and developed their compositional skills over the course of a career in another musical occupation. David Robertson (conductor) Robertson was born and raised in Malibu, California , and grew up in a music-loving family. His father was a research scientist at Hughes Laboratory and his mother studied literature, but later had

3200-408: The performer elaborating seriously the music as given in the score, particularly for Baroque music and music from the early Classical period . The movement might be considered a way of creating greater faithfulness to the original in works composed at a time that expected performers to improvise . In genres other than classical music, the performer generally has more freedom; thus for instance when

3264-479: The received ' canon ' of performed musical works." She argues that in the 1800s, women composers typically wrote art songs for performance in small recitals rather than symphonies intended for performance with an orchestra in a large hall, with the latter works being seen as the most important genre for composers; since women composers did not write many symphonies, they were deemed to be not notable as composers. According to Abbey Philips, "women musicians have had

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3328-430: The role of male composers. As well, very few works by women composers are part of the standard repertoire of classical music. In Concise Oxford History of Music , " Clara Shumann [ sic ] is one of the only female composers mentioned", but other notable women composers of the common practice period include Fanny Mendelssohn and Cécile Chaminade , and arguably the most influential teacher of composers during

3392-735: The rubric of the U.S. Information Agency in the Middle East and around the world on the subject of music. In 1985, Robertson was appointed resident conductor of the Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra . From 1992 to 2000, Robertson was music director of the Paris-based Ensemble Intercontemporain (EIC), the first American to hold the post. He broadened the EIC's repertoire to include works by composers such as John Adams . In 2000, Robertson

3456-532: The term in a musical context given by the Oxford English Dictionary is from Thomas Morley 's 1597 A Plain and Easy Introduction to Practical Music , where he says "Some wil [ sic ] be good descanters [...] and yet wil be but bad composers". "Composer" is a loose term that generally refers to any person who writes music. More specifically, it is often used to denote people who are composers by occupation, or those who work in

3520-440: The top ten rankings only in the 18th century and was ranked third most important city in both the 19th and 20th centuries. New York City entered the rankings in the 19th century (in fifth place) and stood at second rank in the 20th century. The patterns are very similar for a sample of 522 top composers. Professional classical composers often have a background in performing classical music during their childhood and teens, either as

3584-472: The tradition of Western classical music . Writers of exclusively or primarily songs may be called composers, but since the 20th century the terms ' songwriter ' or ' singer-songwriter ' are more often used, particularly in popular music genres. In other contexts, the term 'composer' can refer to a literary writer, or more rarely and generally, someone who combines pieces into a whole. Across cultures and traditions composers may write and transmit music in

3648-422: The work, by such means as by varying their articulation and phrasing , choosing how long to make fermatas (held notes) or pauses, and — in the case of bowed string instruments, woodwinds or brass instruments — deciding whether to use expressive effects such as vibrato or portamento . For a singer or instrumental performer, the process of deciding how to perform music that has been previously composed and notated

3712-748: The world, including the Berlin Philharmonic, the New York Philharmonic , the Chicago Symphony Orchestra , the London Philharmonic Orchestra , the Los Angeles Philharmonic , and many others. Her works have been conducted by Kent Nagano , Simon Rattle , Alan Gilbert , Gustavo Dudamel , Myung-whun Chung , Esa-Pekka Salonen , Neeme Järvi , Péter Eötvös , David Robertson and George Benjamin . Chin's music has been highlighted at

3776-567: Was awarded the 2004 University of Louisville Grawemeyer Award for Music Composition . It was premiered in 2002 by Viviane Hagner . Since then, it has been programmed in 14 countries in Europe, Asia and North America, and performed, among others, by Christian Tetzlaff , the Berlin Philharmonic and Simon Rattle in 2005. In 2007, she was awarded the Kyung-Ahm Prize . Chin's works have been performed by orchestras around

3840-682: Was born in Seoul , South Korea. She studied composition with Sukhi Kang at Seoul National University and won several international prizes in her early 20s. In 1985, Chin won the Gaudeamus Foundation located in Amsterdam, with her piece Spektra for three celli, which was composed for her graduation project. She also received an academic grant to study in Germany, where she moved that same year. There she studied with György Ligeti at

3904-739: Was named the Music Director of the Orchestre National de Lyon (ONL) and artistic director of Lyon 's Auditorium. He was the first individual to serve simultaneously in both capacities and the first American to be appointed to either position. He and the ONL toured the United States in 2003, with concerts in New York City, Seattle , Berkeley , and Los Angeles. He concluded his tenure in Lyon in 2004. Robertson's relationship with

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3968-439: Was one of Carnegie Hall's Perspectives artists for the 2005-2006 season, and he curated concerts with the SLSO and other performances with various guest artists and ensembles. Robertson is generally regarded as having restored the SLSO's artistic prominence after the sudden resignation of the prior music director Hans Vonk , and the orchestra's labor dispute in the winter of 2005. New concert series begun during his tenure include

4032-641: Was premiered by the Nieuw Ensemble . Since then, it has been performed in more than 20 countries in Europe, Asia and North America. Chin's collaboration with the Ensemble Intercontemporain , which has led to several commissions from them, started in 1994 with Fantaisie mecanique . Since 1995, Chin has been published exclusively by Boosey & Hawkes . In 1999, Chin began an artistic collaboration with Kent Nagano , who has since premiered six of her works. Chin's Violin Concerto No. 1

4096-399: Was selected 'Premiere of the Year' by an international critics' poll conducted in 2007 by the German opera magazine Opernwelt . Some of Chin's works are influenced by extramusical associations and other art genres, such as her orchestral work Rocaná which alludes to Olafur Elíasson's installations, or her ensemble works Graffiti and cosmigimmicks , the latter of which was influenced by

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