Kang, Sukhi

Sukhi Kang was born in Seoul, Korea, on October 22, 1934. He graduated from the Seoul National University College of Music, and continued his studies in Germany at the Staatliche Hochschule für Musik in Hanover, as well as at the Technische Universität and Musik Hochschule in Berlin, from 1970 to 1975. Kang became professor of composition at Seoul National University in 1982, serving there for almost 20 years until his retirement in 2000.

He has been awarded numerous international prizes and honors, such as being selected for the International Rostrum of Composers, Paris, UNESCO in 1976; the Korean NationalComposers’ Prize, Seoul, 1978; the Grand-Prix of the Korea National Composers’ Prize, 1979; Musician of the Year Award given by the Association of Korean Musicians, 1989; and the Cultural Art Prize of the President of Korea in 1990.

Kang has been actively involved in international musical life as an organizer and director of music festivals such as the Seoul Contemporary Music festival from 1969 to 1992 and the Experimental Music Festival “Inventionen” in Berlin from 1982 to 1984. He was music director of the 1988 Seoul Olympic Games closing ceremony, and has been codirector of the Mosaico Festival with Krzysztof Penderecki in Kraków, Poland, from 1994 until the present.

Many of Kang’s major works have been performed worldwide with renowned orchestras.