Youn Sun Nah Quartet featuring Eugene Pao,
Korea/Hong Kong
韓國/香港
Youn Sun Nah, vocal
Eugene Pao, guitars
Ted Lo, piano
Sylvain Gagnon, bass
http://www.younsunnah.com
http://www.myspace.com/younsunnah
The daughter of a conductor father and a classical singer mother, she was born into and grew up a musical family. She made her musical debut at 23 with a joint concert with the Korean Symphony Orchestra. She then performed in numerous Korean musicals on a national stage, for which she has received numerous awards. However, because of all its constraints she did not find that musical environments fulfilling. She decided to go to Paris in 1995 to study jazz and French chanson at the CIM school —one of the oldest jazz schools in Europe— and at the National Music Institute of Beauvais, and at the Nadia and Lili Boulanger Conservatory. Her innate talent for jazz revealed itself when she started playing in Parisian jazz clubs with her group YSN 5tet She made her rounds around the Paris club scene, performances that would earn her invitations to work together by many famous musicians. Youn Sun Nah made strong showing in a number of jazz concours like La Defense, St. Maur, and Montmartre. She became the buzzword in theaters and festivals all over France, while also performing in Korea, essentially managing simultaneous careers in two countries.
Producing five albums in six years, she held numerous performances in France, Europe, and in Asia including Korea. Such vigorous activity would earn her the best artist prize in crossover music category in Korea in 2003. In 2004, the release of <So I am...> was widely celebrated by French audiences as well as the press, who regarded her as one of the most remarkable singers of this generation. Active touring and active musical performances finally came to fruition in the form of the Grand Prize at the reputable Jazz a Juan Concours in 2005, in addition to a prize of the best young artist of the year in Korea.
She is an artist who never fails to move audiences wherever she may be performing, which led her to over 100 successful performances in Europe, USA, Australia, and Asia in 2005 and 2006. Youn Sun Nah reestablished her position as a premier jazz artist in the Asian music scene and marketplace with the album <Memory Lane>, co-produced with Denmark’s top pianist Niels Lan Doky and Korean bassist Kim Jeong-ryul. She also earned recognition from the American media and noted personalities from around the world with an invitation and performance at the Jazz at Lincoln Center, which would launch her to world stardom. Meanwhile, she has worked with world-famous Swedish artists like Ulf Wakenius and Lars Danielsson on her newest album <Voyage> which is released globally through ACT (one of the top European jazz labels) in 2009. The same year, Youn Sun Nah was awarded by the French government with Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres for her contribution in Arts and culture.羅玧宣出生自音樂世家。父親為交响樂團指揮家，而母親則是古典聲樂家。二十三歲時在交响樂團中初露啼聲，其後在眾多的音樂劇演出同時亦獲獎無數。在事業環及境中得不到充實感後，在九五年到全歐洲歷史最悠長，位於巴黎的CIM學院修讀爵士樂，後來更成為這學院的首名亞洲導師。於學習期間，羅玧宣爭取任何的演出機會，在酒吧及會所演唱時，除結識不少優秀樂手之外，更被不少成名藝人賞識及邀聘一同合作。自此其事業便平步青雲，在法國和韓國兩地的劇院及音樂節中穿插。
除擁有一把可和完美比拼的嗓子外，在過去八年羅玧宣共出版的六張唱片中，可見其在編寫樂曲方面亦功力十足。2005年憑著一張’So I am’在法國嬴得’Jazz a Juan Concours’及韓國之最隹新人等獎項。於05及06兩年内，在歐亞及澳洲等地演出過百場，而沒有一場不把聽簽眾弄得痴醉。07的一張’Memory Lane’找來丹麥鋼琴手Nils Lan Dorky和名低音結他手Kim Yeong-Rryul共同製作。同年被邀到紐約的Jazz at the Lincoln Center演出，為首位獲得這爵士樂中最高榮譽的亞洲藝人。08年得和現時最火的瑞典低音手Lars Danielsson及結他手Ulf Wakenius泡製了’Voyage’，在歐洲爵士樂名牌ACT期下，於09年4月作全球性發行。羅玧宣亦憑這張新作，於09年3月的第六届韓國音樂大獎 (Korean Music Awards)上，嬴取了全年最隹’跨界及爵士樂’唱片(Best Jazz & Crossover record of the year)大獎。而同年更獲法國政府頒授了一枚勳爵的銜譽，對其在藝術及文化上的貢獻致敬。