for string quartet and electronics
Commissioned by F. and J-P Billarant for the Wittener Tage Für Neue Kammermusik 2021.
Recorded by Ircam (Paris, Centre Pompidou), mixed by Music Unit.

First performance : April 23th 2021, Paris (FR)
Diotima quartet.

Des Mondes Possibles - string quartet & electronics (2021)

<Rituel au Tombeau d'Isang Yun> pour quinze instrumentistes (2021)
(Commissioned by the Tongyeong International Music Foundation)

Ensemble Modern
Ensemble TIMF

Johannes Kalitzke, direction
 ⓒTIMF

Whan RI-AHN : <Rituel au Tombeau d'Isang Yun> pour quinze instrumentistes (2021)

5 (Sat) Feb 2022 | Sumitomolife Izumi Hall (Osaka)  
concert : “Izumi Sinfonietta Osaka The 47th Regular Concert” 
performance : Norichika Iimori (cond.), Izumi Sinfonietta Osaka

« Zanzou no utsuwa » for orchestra (2021)

ABSCHLUSSKONZERT 3 
International Ensemble Modern Academy (IEMA) 2021/22

Hochschule für Musik und Darstellende Kunst Frankfurt am Main (HfMDK)
Kleiner Saal
September 29, 2022

“…qui s'enchaînent” is a piece for a large ensemble that explores the limits of recursive obsession and systemic propagation of musical events. It is unfolding multiple processes of repetition, formalizing microstructures with unique sonority characteristics and yet outlining superimposed identities of similar sonority objects. The notion of harmony comes to unify quasi-homogeneous materials for creating prominent sound archetypes that frame the canvas of broader musical ideas that formulate the piece's dramaturgy. Mimetic micro-variations and rhythmic metamorphoses are obsessively sculpting, and constantly re-formulating the timbral identities of the sound materials exposed. The piece is heartily dedicated to the musicians of the International Ensemble Modern Academy 2021-22.

“...qui s'enchaînent”, for large ensemble (2022)

"sear", premiered by Alarm Will Sound and Alan Pierson at Richardson Auditorium on March 21, 2023.

I spend a lot of time in the kitchen (or at the grill) cooking. It’s something I love to do for myself and others, whether I’m preparing meals for the week or hosting a gathering. In 2018, I read Samin Nosrat’s Salt Fat Acid Heat from cover to cover. At the time, I was more passionate about eating than I was about cooking, but I was willing to learn. 

In the section of the book on Heat, the author talks about an event called the Maillard reaction, a chemical reaction in which heat causes browning of proteins and sugars within ingredients. There are many ways to achieve the Maillard reaction, one of them being the searing method. Simply put, you prepare an extreme heat source (like a 700 degree skillet), you put a raw ingredient on the skillet (like a steak), and then the surface becomes deeply browned (and incredibly flavorful). A few drawbacks of this method include smoking up your kitchen, setting off the fire alarm, sweating profusely, but it’s worth it for the flavor (…sometimes…this is why I like the grill, even in the dead of winter).

sear is a piece based on extreme contrasts, with the idea of blistering heat in mind.

sear

I
II 
III 
Estonian bagpipes: Katariin Raska, Ulvi Võsa, Karolin Vetevoog, Kaisa Kuslapuu, Mari Meentalo, Kerli Kislõi
Premiere recorded by Estonian Classic Radio, 01.05.2023
Be it lines of force or a forgotten contact between the earth and our bodies, the essential point of support.. Earth veins as vital paths with oscillating and resonant intersections? 
Following the events of last February in Southern Turkey and  Western Syria, the earth once again showed also its destructive power, the effects of which are also echoed in this work.
a review by Simon Cummings: https://5against4.com/2023/05/30/estonian-music-days-2023-part-3/

Earth Veins for 6 estonian bagpipes (2023)

Premiered by Schallfeld ensemble at Klangspuren Composers Lab
September 2023 Schwaz, Austria

Conductor-Pierre-André Valade

CHRYSALIS for ensemble (2023)

This one started by playing with a synth I had never really messed with before. One of my longest jams, this one took all day, putting it down and picking it up again at various times.

Jamuary 2024 - Day 13 - Amen Synthi

Clarinette - Martin Adamek
Basson - Paul Riveaux
Accordéon - Vincent Gailly
Percussion - Giles Durot
Piano - Antoine Petit-Dutaillis
Contrebasse - Louis Siracusa

Captation et mixage - Jean-Marc Lyzwa

instinct

instinct

Je considère le son comme une matière organique. Dans instinct, je souhaite lui donner vie par ses différentes évolutions. J'imagine ses transformations comme une mutation progressive avec des imprévus et des continuités.La musique prend alors l'apparence d'un espace, d'un liquide, d'un solide, s'agrège se désagrège, se transforme ou se rompt.

J'utilise l'un des 6 modules du Myanmar, instrument de percussion en 12ème de ton sur 3 octaves que j'ai imaginé et fait réaliser. L'intégrer me permet de mieux l'apprivoiser et le connaître davantage.

Instinct - Ensemble Intercontemporain & DAI

Please, use headphones or good loudspeakers.

dead wasps in the jam-jar (iii) (2017–18)
for string quartet and sine waves

Commissioned by Festival d’Automne à Paris, with the support of the Ernst von Siemens Foundation, and the Proquartet Association.

Live recording at November Music
Quatuor Diotima (Franck Chevalier, Pierre Morlet, Constance Ronzatti,Yun Peng Zhao)

dead wasps in the jam-jar (iii) (2017–18), for string quartet and sine waves

Premiered at outHEAR Festival in Larissa, Greece on December 14th, 2019 by members of Klangforum Wien and PPCM. 

Felix Martl, bass clarinet
Mikael Rudolfsson, trombone
Leo Morello, cello
Joonas Ahonen, piano
Dimitrios Polisoidis, conductor

recorded by Dimitri Papageorgiou

[pictured: John Divola]

Sunol (2019) for bass clarinet, trombone, cello, and piano

Born in 1996 in South Korea, Whan Ri-Ahn (a.k.a. Seong-Hwan Lee) spent part of his childhood in New Zealand before returning to Korea. He then left for the United States and entered the Interlochen Arts Academy at the age of 14 to study composition.
​
He studied at the Royal College of Music in London (RCM) with Kenneth Hesketh. While there, he received the James Horner Award, the Dr. Knobel Fund Award and the RCM Scholarship Award. His studies at RCM were supported by Ms Sara Horner. He continued his studies in Switzerland with Michael Jarrell, Luis Naón and Gilbert Nouno at the Haute école de musique de Genève.

Whan Ri-Ahn's compositions have been commissioned, performed and presented by renowned ensembles, institutions and musicians, such as Ensemble Contrechamps, Ensemble Modern, Ensemble TIMF, Ensemble Proton Bern, Ensemble NEXT, Radio France, Pierre Bleuse, Aaron Cassidy and Johannes Kalitzke. His composition “L’Oiseau dans le Temps II” was premiered as a world premiere at Radio France’s Festival Présences 2023.

Seong-Hwan Lee completed his Master's degree in composition at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et de Danse de Paris (CNSMDP) in the composition class of Frédéric Durieux and that of electronic music with Yan Maresz, Luis Naón and Grégoire Lorieux. The Fondation de France and the Marthe Depelsenaire Foundation generously supported his studies at the Paris Conservatoire and he was the recipient of the 2022 Prix Composition Musicale Marthe Depelsenaire.

He is currently studying at King's College London as a doctoral student under Sir George Benjamin.

Whan RI-AHN : <Rituel au Tombeau d'Isang Yun> pour quinze instrumentistes (2021)

Whan Ri-Ahn

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