Chinary ung

composer

Chinary Ung is often associated with that group of Asian-born composers whose music incorporates aspects of eastern musical characteristics into a western classical music setting. For his work Inner Voices he was given the Grawemeyer Award, a prestigious prize in music composition. That work, along with the Spirals series, indicates a self-referential artistic project where one seeks spiritual strength and inspiration through meditation and quiet contemplation, traits of Buddhist spiritual exercises.

Ung’s extensive orchestral catalog has been commissioned and performed by major orchestras throughout the United States and abroad, including the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra and the American Composers Orchestra. Ung’s work has been commissioned by the Meet the Composer/Reader’s Digest Commissioning Program, the National Endowment for the Arts, and the Ford, Koussevitsky, Joyce, and Barlow Foundations. In 2014, he was given the John D Rockefeller 3rd Award by the New York-based Asian Cultural Council. He is a cultural leader who works with numerous institutions and individuals who share his dedication toward preserving Cambodian culture and forging cultural exchanges between Asia and the West, including The Asian Cultural Council and the Khmer Studies Institute in the USA (where he served as president from 1980-1985).

As an educator, Ung has instructed generations of young composers at several institutions in the United States and Asia. Recently he has taught at Ithaca College and Scripps College. He holds appointments at University of California, San Diego, and Chapman University.