Have you ever wondered what goes on behind classical music, or how composers create it? This seminar introduces how to listen: how tonal music begins, develops, and ends, the main musical forms, and how to recognize ensembles and orchestral instruments. As a composer, I will also share what goes on in my mind when I compose.

About Jean Ahn:

Jean Ahn is a composer whose work spans solo, chamber, orchestral, choral, dance, and electroacoustic music. Her music has been performed by ensembles such as the Santa Cruz Symphony, Oakland Symphony, Berkeley Symphony, Memphis Symphony, Diablo Symphony Orchestra, Earplay and Leftcoast Ensemble and others. Deeply committed to cultural dialogue, Ahn’s ongoing project Folksong Revisited reinterprets traditional Korean melodies for modern performers. This research has been presented at the College Music Society Symposiums, National Association of Teachers of Singing Convention, and the Symposium in New Music in Brazil. 

Ahn earned her B.A. and M.M. from Seoul National University and her Ph.D. in composition from UC Berkeley, where she now lectures. She is the founding director of Ensemble ARI, a group dedicated to sharing Korean culture through contemporary classical music. She also serves as the music director at CHIM Studio, where she teaches students with special needs.