Sungji Hong: Shine

Sungji Hong (b. 1973 in South Korea) is an assistant professor of composition at the University of North Texas. Her compositions include works for solo instruments, orchestra, chorus, ballet and electroacoustic media with special interest on timbre and pre-determined pitch structures. Her musical language is colorful with a wealth of imagery and exquisite delicacy. In 2022, she has been awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship and a Charles Ives Fellowship from the American Academy of Arts and Letters. Also, in 2022, she was elected as an Associate by the Royal Academy of Music (ARAM) upon its 200th anniversary. Hong has received commissions from the Fromm Music Foundation, the National Flute Association, Texas Flute Society, Furman University Clarinet Ensemble, the MATA Festival, iSing Silicon Valley, the Tongyeoung International Music Festival, Kumho Asiana Cultural Foundation, and the Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra, among many others. Her Missa Lumen de Lumine on the ECM New Series (ECM 1929), performed by the vocal ensemble Trio Mediaeval, received critical acclaim and reached the top ten on the Billboard Classical Chart and iTunes classics. Over the last decade, Sungji’s music has been performed by leading players and ensembles in over 46 countries and 213 cities. Her music has been widely broadcast in more than 17 countries (55 channels) and has been recorded and released on the Soundbrush, Elektramusic, Atoll, Dutton label and by ECM Records. Her music is published by Tetractys Publishing [UK].

About her composition Shine, the composer has written: This work is the result of an ongoing collaboration with Carla Rees. She provided studio recordings of the flute solo part I composed. I made use of her recording as the main sound sources on the tape in order to create a unified sonic world between the electronic part and instrumental part. Shine for flute and electronics, written for flutist Carla Rees, was supported by New Music USA. It was completed in early 2015 and was first performed by Carla Rees on 15 April 2015 at The Forge in London. Shine was performed by Carla Rees, Eun Hae Oh, Laura Faoro, Mariangel Villalobos, Kelley Barnett and featured at MAtera INtermedia Festival (Matera/Italy, 2021), the Open Space Festival (Nuremburg/Germany, 2016), Technology & Innovation Concert Series of De Montfort University (Leicester/UK, 2016), Spring New Music Festival of University of York (York/UK, 2016) and La Cote Flute Festival (Gland/Switzerland, 2016).