Page 245 - Media Coverage Book - 75th Aldeburgh Festival 2024

06 June 2024

Talking Heads: Unsuk Chin &

Alban Gerhardt

Composer Unsuk Chin and cellist Alban Gerhardt are featured musicians at the 75th
Aldeburgh Festival this year. They have been linked in music since 2009, when Alban was
the soloist in the premiere of Unsuk’s Cello Concerto at the BBC Proms in 2009. They talk to
Arcana about how the piece has evolved and their hopes for this year’s festival.

by Ben Hogwood

The 75 Aldeburgh Festival of Music and the Arts is upon us – and Arcana is in the very
th
fortunate position of talking simultaneously with two of its Featured Musicians, Korean
composer Unsuk Chin and German cellist Alban Gerhardt. Unsuk is checking in from her
Berlin residence, where she is deeply ensconced in composition work – of which more later.
Gerhardt, as is often the case, is touring – and is about to join us from his hotel lobby in
Spain, where he played the Lalo concerto the previous night.

The two have a strong musical bond, cemented by the Cello Concerto Unsuk composed for
Gerhardt, first performed at the Proms in 2009 with the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra.
Gerhardt will bring it to Aldeburgh in 2024 with the same orchestra, under Ryan
Wigglesworth, on 20 June.

Firstly, however, we welcome Unsuk to the chat. Her youthful countenance is
complemented by an intense focus on her music – which comes to the fore as soon as we
begin to discuss Alaraph, a quarter-hour piece for orchestra receiving its first UK