Short biography

Kunsu Shim (b. 1958) is a composer and performance artist. Notable composition commissions include AFTER A HUNDRED YEARS for soprano and orchestra (Essen Philharmonic), the orchestral work AND HERE AGAIN – EINE PERLENLANDSCHAFT (Würzburg Philharmonic and Kunststiftung NRW) and DAS FEINE, DAS FLÜCHTIGE (Bit20 Ensemble, Norway). Works commissioned by the Kunststiftung NRW include, amongst others, the ensemble pieces leise, frei and KLEINES, FERNES, the string quartet luft.inneres, and, to mark the Beethoven2020 anniversary year, the orchestral work VON HIER FORT? – An intermezzo to Beethoven’s Symphony No. 7 and the performance featuring Beethoven symphonies for multiple record players … ÖFFNETE PLÖTZLICH DIE AUGEN. Since Das Andere, Inneres for piano(s) with a keyboard player and a string player, composed in 2019, Shim has been exploring fundamentally new possibilities in piano composition. With the new compositions created in 2025 – QUASI NIENTE for string quartet, DAS UNSTILLBARE I–III for strings, WENN EIN GLÜCKLICHES FÄLLT for solo cello, and a new work for solo viola – Kunsu Shim makes a strong mark on the EarPort 2026 programme.

Furthermore, Kunsu Shim’s work as a photographer and installation artist is gaining increasing recognition through solo exhibitions in Kassel (2021), at the Kunstverein Trier (2024, complemented by a portrait concert at Trier University of Applied Sciences), and as part of the exhibition project IM KINOSAAL at the Kunsthalle Düsseldorf in spring 2025.

A defining feature since the early 1990s has been his collaboration with the German composer Gerhard Stäbler, which ranges from the original concept of performance music to joint compositions. From 2000 to 2010, Shim and Stäbler established EarPort in Duisburg’s inner harbour as a venue for experimental music and interdisciplinary artistic exchange. Since its reopening in 2015, they have realised numerous projects there in ongoing collaboration with regional partners such as the Kunsthalle Düsseldorf, K20 Düsseldorf (Kunstsammlung NRW), DIE GROSSE Kunstausstellung NRW (Kunstpalast Düsseldorf), NRW-Forum Düsseldorf, Tonhalle Düsseldorf, Benrath Palace, Muziek Biennale Niederrhein, Moers Castle Theatre, Essen Forum for Art and Architecture, Essen Philharmonic Hall, Essen Music Library, as well as national and international partners such as the Diocese of Würzburg, OPENING Festival Trier, Bergen Festival, Borealis Festival, LONDON EAR Festival, the Music Theatre Laboratory at the Bruckner Private University in Linz, the Creative Performance Lab at the Conservatorium van Amsterdam, and many more.

Regular touring engagements take Shim and Stäbler to Japan, Korea, Norway, Portugal, the UK, as well as the Netherlands, Turkey and the USA. Their time as artists-in-residence at the GALATA Artists’ Residence of the Kunststiftung NRW in Istanbul in 2022/23 has led to close artistic ties with the ARTER Museum, several universities in Istanbul and the renowned HEZARFEN Ensemble. Shim and Stäbler also maintain ongoing working relationships with the Grupo de Música Contemporânea de Lisboa ensemble – and with the Korean video artist Kyungwoo Chun through their joint project TRIALOG.

In 2025, Stäbler and Shim’s pre-posthumous collection – comprising compositions and an extensive collection of documents – was incorporated into the Rheinisches Musikarchiv under the auspices of the Heinrich Heine Institute in Düsseldorf.

In 2026, Stäbler and Shim were once again represented at the OPENING Trier sound art festival with world premieres and, in collaboration with the Dresden-based ensemble AuditivVokal, developed a multi-part WandelKonzert in cooperation with the Kunsthalle and Malkasten in Düsseldorf. In autumn 2026, the two composers will continue their collaboration with the HEZARFEN Ensemble and Turkish composers in Duisburg and Istanbul (ARTER Museum, MIAM/Technical University and the Conservatoire of Bahçeşehir University).