JOHN HWANG
COMPOSER
BIOGRAPHY
JOHN HWANG (*1992)
John Hwang entered the pre-college violin program at the Mozarteum University Salzburg, Austria, in 2007, where he studied under Prof. Jürgen Geise. He continued his violin studies in the bachelor’s program in 2009, under the guidance of Prof. Mayumi Seiler, Frank Stadler, and Michaela Girardi.
During his studies, he developed a profound interest in composition, leading him to pursue a bachelor’s degree in composition at the Mozarteum. There, he studied with Prof. Tristan Murail and Prof. Achim Bornhöft. He completed his master’s degree with honors and later continued his education in the postgraduate program, graduating in 2021. Throughout his academic journey, he was awarded scholarships from the Mozarteum.
In 2018, he won second prize at the Christian Doppler Kompositionspreis for his innovative use of prime numbers to establish his own original tonal structure. In recognition of his contributions to contemporary music, he was awarded the Bernhard Paumgartner Medaille in 2020 by the Salzburg Mozarteum Foundation. His composition techniques were featured in “Korean Composer’s Composition Techniques,” published by the Korean Music Critics Association.
His works have been commissioned, performed, and invited by numerous ensembles and festivals, including the Sinfonieorchester der Universität Mozarteum, Mozart Sinfonietta, Ensemble OENM, Ensemble NAMES, Crossroads Salzburg, eviMus (Saarbrücker Tage für elektroakustische und visuelle Musik), next_generation at ZKM Karlsruhe, and Sweetspot-Lounge für Elektronische Musik, and he was invited by the Korea National University of Arts and the Princess Galyani Vadhana Institute of Music to give a lecture on composition.
His musical world is founded on mathematics, science, and Christian thought. In particular, the unique scales and harmonic system based on prime numbers serve as the core of his musical thinking.
Prime numbers, which have only 1 and themselves as factors, are infinite yet irregularly distributed, possessing the most fundamental indivisibility in the number system. He actively utilizes frequency transformation techniques based on prime numbers to dismantle conventional harmonic concepts and propose an unprecedented spectral order. Unlike the traditional harmonic series, which consists of integer multiples, the prime number-based subharmonic series deviates from the predictability of conventional music, creating new frequency relationships. Consequently, the resulting sound exhibits characteristics entirely different from traditional harmonic systems, implying new auditory possibilities in contemporary music.
His music is an attempt to demonstrate that different disciplines and music do not merely exist in parallel but can function as an organically unified whole. Through this approach, he achieves artistic accomplishments that go beyond mere conceptual experimentation. He shapes his musical language within the tension between prime numbers and geometry, algorithms and improvisation, order and chaos, thereby presenting a new direction for contemporary music.