Yun Eun Hwa

Yun Eun Hwa is a Korean yanggeum performer, composer, educator, and instrument developer. Based on her patented 56-note Modern Yanggeum, which she personally developed, she has expanded both performance techniques and contemporary repertoire for the instrument. She is also the first musician in Korea to incorporate an electronic yanggeum into her practice, creating distinctive works through live looping and experimental effects-based sound design.

Holding a Ph.D. in Korean Music from Chung-Ang University, Yun currently serves as a board member of the World Yanggeum Association, President of the Korean Yanggeum Association, Vice President of the International Yanggeum Arts Federation, Vice President of the Asia Yanggeum Association, and a member of Dongyang Gozupa. She also teaches the next generation of performers at Myongji University, Korea National University of Arts, Hanyang University, Sookmyung Women's University, Dankook University, and Ewha Womans University.

Her major original works include Yanggeum Sinawi, Yanggeum Sanjo, Yanggeum Gut, Yanggeum Samulnori, and Yanggeum Byeongchang. Through these works, she continues to expand forms rarely explored on the yanggeum while presenting a new artistic direction where Korean tradition meets contemporary sensibilities.

Yun has performed internationally at major stages including Lincoln Center, and was selected for WOMEX for two consecutive years. She has also been invited to perform at MMVV, Mission Folk Music Festival, Rainforest World Music Festival, WOMAD Chile, and WOMAD Italy. She further expanded global exchange by hosting the 17th World Yanggeum Festival in Korea and organizing the world’s first World Yanggeum Competition.

Her major creative projects include Guracheolsageum: Ta, selected by the Arts Council Korea Performing Arts Creation Program; FAVE, selected by Yeowoorak Festival; FE, supported by the Seoul Foundation for Arts and Culture; 2FACE, selected by the Korea Traditional Performing Arts Foundation; and Mugyeonggye (Boundaryless), selected by the Soorim Foundation. She has also appeared in hundreds of concerto performances with major Korean traditional orchestras and symphony orchestras across Korea.

Her discography includes her full-length albums BORDERLESS and FE, as well as the singles Yanggeum Sanjo, Yanggeum Gut, and Song of Wind. She has also participated as a composer, arranger, and performer on Dongyang Gozupa’s albums Surface, KYUL, and RED.

Her honors include the Grand Prize at the Soorim New Wave (2021), the Grand Prize at the Jeonju Sori Festival Sori Frontier (2015), and the Asia Power Brand Award from Korea’s Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism (Instrument Development Division, 2017). She continues to redefine the boundaries of the yanggeum and shape new possibilities for Korean music in contemporary performance.