View source for Jean Ahn

{{Short description|South Korean composer (born 1976)}}{{BLP primary sources|date=August 2023}}
'''Jean Ahn''' ({{Korean|hangul=안진}}; born 1976) is a composer based in San Francisco, originally from [[Korea]].<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=Bio |url=https://www.jeanahn.com/bio |access-date=2023-03-22 |website=Composer Jean Ahn}}</ref> Her music is inspired by [[Traditional Korean musical instruments|Korean and Asian traditional music and instruments]].<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":13">{{Cite thesis |last=Chae |first=SongHwa |date=2018 |title=The Treatment of Korean Traditional Musical Elements in Western Musical Composition: A Brief Analysis of "Folksong Revisited for Solo Piano" by Jean Ahn |url=https://uknowledge.uky.edu/music_etds/122 |website=Theses and Dissertations—Music. 122|doi=10.13023/etd.2018.280 }}</ref> She composes for a variety of different instruments and ensembles: orchestral works, choral works, solo works, duets, [[chamber music]], and [[electronic music]] and [[computer music]].<ref name="Compositions">{{Cite web |title=Compositions |url=https://www.jeanahn.com/works |access-date=2023-03-23 |publisher=Composer Jean Ahn}}</ref> Her accolades include First Prize at the Renée Fisher Competition and the Sejong Korean Music Competition, awards from the Korean National Music Composers Association, the De Lorenzo Prize in Music Composition, and the [[Isadora Duncan]] Award for her piece ''Saltdoll.''<ref name=":13"/><ref name=":0" />
She was a finalist for the Toulmin Prize (League of Orchestra Commissioning Competition) in 2019 and 2020, and was a finalist for the 2020 [[The American Prize|American Prize]].<ref name=":0" />
== Early life and education ==
Ahn was born in 1976 in [[Seoul|Seoul, South Korea]]. She began her musical studies at the age of four on piano with her mother. Ahn started composing music when she was five and loved to [[Musical improvisation|improvise]].<ref name=":13"/> She then entered the [[Seoul Arts High School]] as a composition major.<ref name=":13"/>
Ahn went on to study composition at collegiate level at the [[Seoul National University]] (SNU), obtaining a [[Bachelor of Music]] in 1999 and a [[Master of Music]] in 2001.<ref name=":13"/> At SNU, she primarily was taught and focused on German [[serialism]].<ref name=":13"/> While at SNU, she took interest in Korean music as well as learning [[gayageum]].<ref name=":13"/>
Ahn moved to the United States in 2001 to continue her studies and earned her PhD in [[Musical composition|composition]] in 2008 at the [[University of California, Berkeley]].<ref name=":0" /> She is currently the director of Ensemble ARI,<ref>{{Cite web |title=Ensemble Ari |url=https://www.jeanahn.com/ensemble-ari |access-date=2023-03-23 |publisher=Composer Jean Ahn}}</ref> and a lecturer at the [[University of California, Berkeley]]. She is also the [[Music director]] of CHIM Studios.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Our Mission And Goals |url=https://www.chimstudio.org/our-mission-and-goals |access-date=2023-03-22 |publisher=CHIM Studio}}</ref>
== Compositions ==
Ahn's works can be categorized in three groups:<ref name=":13"/>
# Pieces using [[Traditional music of Korea|Korean folksong]]<ref name=":13" /><ref>{{Cite web |last=Ahn (1976–) |first=Jean |title="Korean Folksong Revisited For Piano" By Jean Ahn (1976–) – Digital Sheet Music For Score – Download & Print A0.949309 |url=https://www.sheetmusicplus.com/title/korean-folksong-revisited-for-piano-digital-sheet-music/21847198 |access-date=2023-03-23 |publisher=Sheet Music Plus}}</ref>
# Pieces only using Korean musical elements<ref name=":13" /><ref>{{Cite web |last=Ahn (1976–) |first=Jean |title=Blush For Clarinet By Jean Ahn (1976–) – Digital Sheet Music For Individual Part – Download & Print A0.949305  |url=https://www.sheetmusicplus.com/title/blush-for-clarinet-digital-sheet-music/21705392 |access-date=2023-03-23 |publisher=Sheet Music Plus}}</ref>
# Pieces written for [[Traditional Korean musical instruments|Korean instruments]], but playing non-Korean traditional styles/music<ref name=":13" /><ref name="Compositions"/>
Ahn's ''Miracle'' for narrator, voice, and [[Gayageum|gayaguem]] was written for the Korean National Music Festival where she received a composers's award.<ref name=":13"/> It was her first try at using Korean musical elements. It was successful and was [[Performance|performed]] by the National Orchestra of Korea in 2000.<ref name=":13"/>
In 2001 Ahn won another award for ''Choral'' for [[gayageum]] [[quartet]].<ref name=":13"/> While studying in California, she composed ''Pesante'', a piece for [[Chamber music|chamber orchestra]] based on [[pentatonic scale]]s and [[Traditional music of Korea|Korean rhythmic patterns]].<ref name=":13"/>
Four years later Ahn submitted ''Nil-lili'' to the 2005 Sejong Composition Competition. ''Nil-lili'' is an [[arrangement]] of a Korean folksong for piano. With ''Nil-lili'' Ahn won first place in the 2005 Sejong Composition Competition.<ref name=":13"/><ref>{{Cite web |title=winners {{!}} 2005 Sejong composition competition |url=https://www.sejongculturalsociety.org/composition/past/2005/winners.php |access-date=2023-03-23 |publisher=Sejong Cultural Society}}</ref> ''Nil-lili'' was also chosen to be a required piece for the 2018 piano competition of the New England Piano Teacher's Association.<ref name=":13"/>
After ''Nil-lili,'' Ahn ended up [[Musical composition|composing]] two more Korean folksong arrangements for piano: ''Mongeumpo'' and ''Ongheya''.<ref name=":13"/> With ''Ongheya,'' Ahn won a Renée B. Fisher Competition Composer Award in 2008 as well as ''Ongheya'' being a required piece for the elementary/middle school division at the Fisher Piano Competition the same year.<ref name=":13"/><ref>{{Cite web |title=The Renée B. Fisher Competition Winners 1977 – 2016 by Chris Pochiba |date=5 July 2022 |url=https://issuu.com/chrispochiba/docs/winners-1977-2016-1 |access-date=2023-03-23 |via=issuu.com}}</ref>
Ahn combined ''Nil-lili, Mongeumpo and Ongheya'' in a collection titled ''Folksong Revisited'' for solo piano in 2008.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Ahn (1976–) |first=Jean |title="Korean Folksong Revisited For Piano" By Jean Ahn (1976–) – Digital Sheet Music For Score – Download & Print A0.949309 |url=https://www.sheetmusicplus.com/title/korean-folksong-revisited-for-piano-digital-sheet-music/21847198 |access-date=2023-03-23 |publisher=Sheet Music Plus}}</ref><ref name=":13"/>
WIth Ahn's interest in Korean folksong, she composed another folksong series, ''Korean Art Song Revisited'' for voice and piano.<ref name=":13"/><ref name=":2">{{Cite web |title=K-Folksong Revisited |url=https://www.jeanahn.com/home/folksong-revisited |access-date=2023-03-23 |publisher=Composer Jean Ahn}}</ref> The piece includes five folksongs arranged for voice and piano.<ref name=":2" /> In this piece, Ahn provided texts, translations, and [[International Phonetic Alphabet]]ical [[pronunciation]].<ref name=":13" /><ref name=":2" />
Recently Ahn's ''Blush'' for solo clarinet was named a required piece for the 2023 [[International Clarinet Association]]'s Young Artist Competition.<ref>{{Cite web |title=2023 ICA Young Artist Solo Clarinet Competition Repertoire |url=https://www.clarinetallmusic.com/collections/2023-ica-young-artist-solo-clarinet-competition-repertoire |access-date=2023-03-23 |website=CAMco}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=ICA Competition Winners |url=https://clarinet.org/competitions/competition-winners/ |access-date=2023-03-23 |publisher=International Clarinet Association}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Young Artist Competition |url=https://clarinet.org/competitions/young-artist-competition/ |access-date=2023-03-23 |publisher=International Clarinet Association}}</ref>
== References ==
<references />
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ahn, Jean}}
[[Category:1976 births]]
[[Category:21st-century Korean women]]
[[Category:21st-century American composers]]
[[Category:21st-century American women composers]]
[[Category:20th-century Korean women]]
[[Category:Seoul National University alumni]]
[[Category:University of California, Berkeley alumni]]
[[Category:University of California, Berkeley staff]]
[[Category:Living people]]