Sungji Hong’s music has been described as “a work of iridescent freshness” (BBC Music Magazine), “the sound is utterly luminous” (Fanfare Magazine), and “the harmonies and fluid dynamics were modern” (The New York Times). At times complex and at times straightforward, her passionate music uses precise timbres to unfold dramatic, virtuoso gestures, iridescent colors, and vivid, atmospheric auras. Her music has been performed in over 47 countries and 236 cities throughout Europe, the United States and Asia.
Her honors include a Guggenheim Fellowship, a Charles Ives Fellowship from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, commissions from the Fromm Music Foundation, the National Flute Association, the MATA Festival, the Tongyeoung International Music Festival, Kumho Asiana Cultural Foundation, Lorelei Ensemble, iSing Silicon Valley, Ensemble TIMF, and the Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra. Her Missa Lumen de Lumine on the ECM New Series (ECM 1929), performed by the vocal ensemble Trio Mediaeval, received critical acclaim and reached the top ten on the Billboard Classical Chart and iTunes classics. Sungji Hong holds degrees from Hanyang University, the Royal Academy of Music, and the University of York in the United Kingdom. She was the Manson Fellow of Composition at the Royal Academy and was made an Associate of the Royal Academy of Music (ARAM), London. Hong is an Assistant Professor of Music Composition at the University of North Texas.