Isang Yun

About Isang Yun

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Isang Yun was born on 17 September 1917 near Tongyong, South Korea, and received his first musical training (cello and composition) in Korea and Japan. Active opposition to the Japanese occupation resulted in his being imprisoned until the end of World War II. After gaining his freedom, he spent a period teaching music at Korean high schools and universities.
In 1956 Yun travelled to Europe to continue his studies in Paris and Berlin (with Boris Blacher), also attending the International Courses at Darmstadt. Yun became a West German citizen in 1971, having been a resident of West Berlin since 1964.
Yun was abducted from Germany by the Korean Park regime, who interned him from 1967-1969, and his release was followed by a period of political activity on behalf of the restitution of democracy in the country of his birth.
Following his return to Germany he taught (1969) at the Hannover State College of Music, becoming professor of composition at the Stat College of Arts (Hochschule der Künste) Berlin (1979-1985).
He was a member of the Hamburg and Berlin Academies of Arts, an honorary doctor at Tübingen University, and an honorary member of the ISCM. He was also a member of the Academia Scientiarum et Artium Europaea, Salzburg, among other distinctions (Großes Bundesverdienstkreuz).
Isang Yun died on 3 November 1995 in Berlin.