Younghi Pagh-Paan Collection in Basel
The Paul Sacher Foundation in Basel has acquired the music manuscripts of the composer Younghi Pagh-Paan. The collection of sketches, drafts and fair copies is constantly being added to and is now available for research in the Foundation's archive at Münsterplatz in Basel.
Younghi Pagh-Paan was born in South Korea in 1945 and came to Freiburg im Breisgau on a scholarship in 1974, where she studied with Klaus Huber, Brian Ferneyhough and Edith Picht-Axenfeld. From 1994 to 2011, she was Professor of Composition at the University of the Arts in Bremen.
Pagh-Paan achieved her breakthrough as a composer with the orchestral work Sori, which was premiered at the Donaueschingen Music Festival in 1980. Since then, her works have been performed at international festivals and she has received commissions from renowned institutions.
Younghi Pagh-Paan's work is characterized by socio-political commitment and the reflection of both Eastern and Western philosophies. The uncompromisingly progressive composer also integrates the tradition and thinking of her East Asian homeland on a musical level.