Woosung Cho was born in 1979 in Seoul, Korea.

 

He studied composition with Prof. Inchul Kim and Sukhee Cho at the Changwon National Univeristy from 2001 to 2005.

​

He continued his studies in Germany with Prof. Dr. Manfred Stahnke at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater in Hamburg, completing his Master of Music in 2011.

​

He then moved to the Hochschule für Musik, Theater und Medien Hannover, completing his Soloklasse Studies with Prof. Oliver Schneller, Prof. Rebecca Saunders, Joachim Heintz and Gordon Williamson.

 

Over the years he has taken part in many composition masterclasses with George Aperghis, Kaija Saariaho, Mark Andre, Misato Mochizuki, Günter Steinke, Tom Johnson and Younghi Pagh-Paan.

From 2006 to 2012 he took part in Unsuk Chin's 'Ars Nova' Project with the Seoul Philharmonic and 47th. Internationale Ferienkurse für Neue Musik Darmstadt.

 

Cho has been awarded many prizes and grants for his work, including

1st Prize at the Nanpa National Composition Competition,

1st Prize at the Youngnam Composition Competition,

2nd Prize at the Concorso Internazionale di Compositione

"Citta di Montalto Ligure", as well as selections for New Music Miami ISCM, Seoul Contemporary Music Festival, Hildesheim Composition Competition and the Daegu International Contemporary Music Festival.

 

His music has been performed at many international festivals, including

"CAGE UNDER GROUND" at the Staatsoper Hannover,

"Debussy-Festival Klaviermarathon" in Hamburg, "European Liedforum Vilnius 2013 in Litauen", "Musik 21 Festival 2012 Hildesheim und Alfeld", "Kunstfestspielen Herrenhausen 2013", Daism Contemporary Music Festival, Bernd Alois Zimmermann "Zwischen den Zeiten" Festival at the Staatstheater Hannover. Isang Yun-Korea Festliche Gedenkkonzert at Städtische Galerie Kubus, Nordstadt Konzert in Christuskirche Hannover.

 

His works have been played by KBS Symphony Orchestra, DAEGU MBC Symphony Orchestra and ensembles such as Ensemble Mosaik,

Esbjerg, Zafraan, Hong Kong New Music Ensemble, Schallfeld ensemble ,Versipel Ensemble, Kammerorchester Pro Artibus Hannover, Musica assoluta, Hemmi String Quartet and students from conservatories in Vilnius, Warschau, Bukarest, Berlin, Hamburg und Hannover.

 

In 2014/15 he has been awarded the "Jahresstipendium" from the Ministry of Science and Culture of Lower Saxony.

​

He is currently teaching at the Pu-san and Changwon National University, Yeungnam University.

He is General Manager of Planning Dept. the Daegu International Contemporary Music Festival. 

Since 2020 he has held the position of the DAEGU MBC Symphony Orchestra's composer-in-residence.