Donghoon Shin

• Donghoon Shin is one of the outstanding South Korean composers of the younger generation
• has attracted attention particularly for his dynamic and colourful ensemble and orchestral works
• sets up contrapuntal conversations between layers which in turn generate harmonies
• invents startling new colours from imaginative combinations of instruments
• often juxtaposes disparate elements to create new meanings, exploring J.L. Borges’s ideas about intertextuality
• has long admired the emotional charge in the music of Mahler and Berg and pursued a refined modern equivalent
• compositional mentors have included Sukhi Kang, George Benjamin, Unsuk Chin, Julian Anderson and Peter Eötvös
• winner of the 2016 Royal Philharmonic Society Composition Prize and 2022 Claudio Abbado Composition Prize
• works performed by leading groups including Los Angeles Philharmonic, London Symphony Orchestra, Berlin Philharmonic, Helsinki Philharmonic, Seoul Philharmonic, Ensemble Intercontemporain and Ensemble Recherche
• resident in Berlin and London since 2025

Works by Donghoon Shin include:
Double Act (2022) Double concerto for sheng, accordion and orchestra
Upon His Ghostly Solitude (2023) for orchestra
Threadsuns (2024) for viola and orchestra

Also visit Donghoon Shin’s website at www.donghoonshin.com.

Shin’s early compositions are published by Ricordi.

Looking Ahead: world premiere of new orchestral concert opener by Los Angeles Philharmonic under Elim Chan (16 Oct); German premiere of recent Piano Concerto for Seong-Jin Cho with Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra under Daniel Harding (17 Dec).

“…moments of trance-like stillness and tumultuous forward motion… the ecstasy, longing and panic of dream states was perfectly caught.”
Daily Telegraph