"Les sortilèges de Pinpin" (2024) for Ensemble

Sunghyun Lee (*1995)
Usch... for Violoncello Solo (2025)

Violoncello: Uschik Choi

Partika-Saal, RSH Duesseldorf

Usch... for Violoncello Solo (2025)

Sunghyun Lee (*1995)
Abegg-Games II for Pianoforte (2023)

Pianoforte: Sunghyun Lee

Partika-Saal, RSH Duesseldorf

Abegg-Games II for Pianoforte (2023)

Sunghyun Lee (*1995)
Riddles and Fiddles, for cello and ensemble (2024)

Uschik Choi, cello

IEMA Ensemble 23/24

Hwajune Kim, flute
Megumi Nakajima, oboe
Pablo Piñeiro Mundín, clarinet
Olivia Palmer-Baker, bassoon
Robyn Blair, horn
Jinhyoung Kim, trumpet
Noah Perkins, trombone
Grzegorz Chwalinski, percussion
Shan-Chi Hsu, piano
Isaac Bifet, violin
Elijah Spies, viola
Emmett Jackson, double bass

Raimonda Skabeikaitė, conductor
Moritz Fischer, sound director

German Première, 17 September 2024, HfMDK Frankfurt


I simply wanted to create music that brought together the raw elements of things I have liked since I was very young. Additionally, I wanted to move away from the mechanical and angular progressions that are a key feature of my works—compositions made up of various free and open fragments—and write music that feels a bit more organic.

For me, the goal of all composition is the process of overcoming my limits and exploring new paths. This time, I wanted to use the cello as a solo instrument for two main reasons: as a sort of compositional exercise dealing with the balance between the cello and the ensemble, and to write "melodies" utilizing the various expressive possibilities of the cello.

The work is composed of three parts:
The first part is a prelude that highlights the virtuosity of both the ensemble instruments and the cello.

In the second part, the cello poses various questions and riddles to the ensemble. The ensemble instruments respond to the cello in a way that gives a mechanical feeling—like broken machines, they ignore the cello's input. However, the cello keeps questioning, acting as a catalyst that drives powerful musical progressions.

The third part is a noise-timbre study between the cello and the ensemble.  This ultimately transforms into electronic sounds, with the cello becoming "robotized," almost like a machine (but broken, crazy machine), concluding the piece.


Photo by Jieun Kim

Riddles and Fiddles for Violoncello and Ensemble (2024)

Luc Ferrari - Études d'improvisation (1977)

Sunghyun Lee (Piano)
Yejune You (Electronics)
Lukas Döhler (Violin)
Hwajune Kim (Flute)
Bastián Jorquera Figueroa (Slide whistles)

RSH Duesseldorf,
Part of IEMA-Elective Projects

(4th Mov.) Luc Ferrari - Études d'improvisation

M'Illumino D'immenso : Chamber Opera (2024)

Composer : Sunghyun Lee (B.1995)

Conductor: Dorian Todorov Dimitrov 
Scene: Beka Savic 

Cast:  
Joowon Kim (Claude Vivier)
Grantas Šileikis (Man in the Darkness, Vivier-Doppelgänger)
Mathias Vieira Tönges (Messenger of Death, Narrator)

Robert Schumann Hochschule Düsseldorf 
Deutsche Oper am Rhein

CONTENTS
I. Overture
II. Song in the Darkness
III. Suicidal Impulses
IV. I'm so sick of...
V. Words in the mirror
VI. Lonely Child

Music by Sunghyun Lee
Libretto by Sunghyun Lee, Claude Vivier

Written for Opera Project of Robert Schumann Hochschule Düsseldorf,
Alla Breve 2024

World Premiere :
October 20th, 2024
Maxhaus Düsseldorf - Katholisches Stadthaus

M'Illumino D'immenso : Chamber Opera (2024)

(Whole Mov.) Luc Ferrari - Sunghyun Lee : Études d'improvisation (1977)

Sunghyun Lee (*1995)
Jardin des Voyelles I pour Ténor, Baryton, Basse et Trois Instrumentistes (2024)

Conducted by Léo Warynski
Performed by Les Métaboles and Ensemble Multilatérale

Ténor: Marco Van Baaren
Baryton: Paul Alexandre Dubois
Bass: Marc Busnel 

Harp: Aurélie Saraf 
Percussion: Hélène Colombotti
Piano: Lise baudouin

Solitär, Universität Mozarteum Salzburg

Jardin des Voyelles I pour Ténor, Baryton, Basse et Trois Instrumentistes (2024)

Inspired by the Sea Organ, 'Waves' explores the profound connection between the sea and humanity. Drawing from her studies in Japan, the composer incorporates the sounds of the Shō, a traditional Japanese mouth organ, incorporating influences from Gagaku music. 

Played by Chatori Shimizu: https://www.chatorishimizu.com/

Waves

Sarah Nemtsov
TIKKUN (2021)
for solo ensemble (saxophone, e guitar, keyboard, drums), string orchestra and percussion

Nikel Ensemble (Patrick Stadler, Yaron Deutsch, Antoine Francoise, Brian Archinal)
Heidelberg Philharmonic Orchestra
Mino Marani, conductor

*
TIKKUN is part III of the tetralogy TZIMTZUM (2020-2023) for solo ensemble (Nikel) and orchestra
*
live recording from a concert on February 5th 2025
dlf 

"Les sortilèges de Pinpin" (2024) for Ensemble

Ikumi Yamauchi