Unsuk Chin Essentials

Korean composer Unsuk Chin is not only one of the most celebrated 21st-century composers of classical music, she's also among the most fiery and adventurous modernists of the era. She left her homeland for Germany in 1985, where she began studying with Hungarian legend György Ligeti, whose fearlessness made an impact on her. She's written in many contexts, turning out brooding, physically demanding solo piano etudes, the drama-soaked (and prize-winning) 2001 Violin Concerto and the sprawling mayhem of the nevertheless concise Gougalon, a richly varied if harrowing ensemble work inspired by the composer's childhood in high-energy Seoul.