Kunsu Shim

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Kunsu Shim (2019)
Korean spelling
Hangeul 심근수
Revised
Romanization 		Sim Geon-su
McCune-
Reischauer 		Sim Kŏnsu

Kunsu Shim (born September 15, 1958 in Busan , South Korea ) is a contemporary composer and performance artist.

life and work

Shim studied composition at Yonsei University in Seoul with Inyong La (1979–83). In 1985 he came to Germany, where he studied composition with Helmut Lachenmann in Stuttgart from 1987–88 . He then studied with Nicolaus A. Huber in Essen (1990–92). Shim's main interest is experimental music. He feels particularly connected to composers from the USA such as Morton Feldman and John Cage . Fine arts, literature and, above all, performance art can often be found in Shim's works. His works are often characterized by an extreme reduction in material. In 2000 Shim co-foundedGerhard Stäbler opened the "EarPort" venue at the inner harbor of Duisburg , a place for conveying new music and linking the arts, where both of them held over hundreds of concerts and workshops until 2010. In 2003 Kunsu Shim received the renowned Genko Uchida Fellowship . The collaboration with the German composer Gerhard Stäbler, which ranges from the original concept of performance music to joint compositions, has also had an impact since the early 1990s. From 2000 to 2010 and since it reopened in autumn 2015, Shim and Stäbler have been running the EarPort in Duisburg Inner Harbor as a place for experimental music and encounters between the arts. In 2003 Kunsu Shim received the renowned Genko Uchida Fellowship .

Concerts, portraits as well as guest lectures and workshops have taken him to many European countries, to Australia, North and South America and to the Near and Far East. In 2013 he traveled to Iceland, Norway, Korea, Japan and Portugal on invitations to perform works and performances. He also led numerous projects and concert series together with Gerhard Stäbler , including “CAGE 100” (a Tonhalle Düsseldorf project in 2012), the “Winter Academy for Young Composers” Düsseldorf (2014), the concert series “Naturally beautiful!” (With interactions between old and new music) at Schloss Benrath , the project “Trialog” (since 2009) and the a.pe.ri.od.ic ensemble (2018).

The important composition commissions that Shim have received in recent years include  after a hundred years  for soprano and orchestra (commissioned by the Essen Philharmonic, 2011), the orchestral work  and here again - a pearl landscape  (commissioned by the Würzburg Philharmonic and the Kunststiftung NRW , 2014), as well as  wolken.blindenschrift  for soprano, vocal ensemble and orchestra (commissioned by the Diocese of Würzburg for the Kiliansdom in Würzburg, 2016). 

Kunsu Shim is now a German citizen and lives in Germany.

Selection of works

  • 1993: tree, voice ... to move for 12 vocal soloists, WP Hamm
  • 1995: see / hear , musical-visual project with students (any number of players), WP Bochum 1995
  • 1996: this space for violin and piano
  • 1997: waves, echoes for orchestra
  • 1998: joy for 4 female voices with the same voice range
  • 1999: in the swell of wandering words for 11 instruments
  • 2000: primary piano (I) for piano solo, WP Duisburg
  • 2001: farewell for orchestra
  • 2002: 12 interludes for piano solo
  • 2003: 12 interludes for koto solo
  • 2004: 12 interludes for vocal quartet
  • 2005: places for Sho and two performers
  • 2006: ONE STAR, ONE SWEET, GOOD NIGHT! for string orchestra with flutes and percussion, WP Duisburg
  • 2007: Quellepunkte, at night for flute, oboe and clarinet, UA Wiesbaden
  • 2007: Atemwende - Silence for a divided orchestra
  • 2008: Steinschlag · Time for a divided orchestra (I and II), WP Duisburg
  • 2011: after a hundred years for soprano and orchestra, WP Essen
  • 2012: EX-POSITION (night calls) for a few players, UA Forum Kunst & Architektur Essen
  • 2012: HERE SEIN and Here to me for a cappella choir
  • 2014: and here again - a pearl landscape , WP Würzburger Philharmoniker
  • 2014: UM HEARING for string orchestra, premiered in Karlsruhe
  • 2015 sketch of a landscape, for four strings, premiered in Düsseldorf
  • 2016: wolken.blindenschrift  for soprano, vocal ensemble and orchestra

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Earport, home page. in: www.earport.de, accessed on January 20, 2017 .
personal data
SURNAME Shim, Kunsu
ALTERNATIVE NAMES 심 건수 (Korean, Hangeul); Sim, Geon-su (Revised Romanization); Sim, Kŏnsu (McCune-Reischauer)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION South Korean-German contemporary composer
DATE OF BIRTH September 15, 1958
PLACE OF BIRTH Busan , South Korea