yuniya edi kwon | |
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Born | 1989 (age 35–36) Minneapolis, Minnesota, U.S. |
Alma mater | University of Cincinnati – College-Conservatory of Music |
Occupations |
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Awards | Guggenheim Fellowship (2025) |
Musical career | |
Instrument | Violinist |
Formerly of |
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Website | www.yuniya.net |
yuniya edi kwon (born 1989), (stylized in lower-case), is an American violinist and composer. She is a 2025 Guggenheim Fellow.
kwon was born and raised in Minneapolis, to Korean immigrant parents. [1] [2] She began studying the violin at the age of ten. [3] She graduated from University of Cincinnati – College-Conservatory of Music as a jazz studies student. [1] She was a 2016 United States Artists Fellow. [4]
In 2021, she performed the piece Seep as part of a Bang on a Can event; David Wright said that "whistling, vocalizing, and folk-inflected violin effects evoked woodland spirits in" the piece. [5] She was featured in The Washington Post's "22 for ‘22" series, with nominator Wang Lu saying that Kwon’s works have a "naturally musical" quality and "don't make me feel that they are too much 'carved'". [6] In a May 2023 review of her piece Earth Iridescence/Sorrow Churn, performed by Sun Han Guild, Vanessa Ague called her voice "a moment of catharsis". [7]
kwon won a 2023 Foundation for Contemporary Arts Robert Rauschenberg Award in Music/Sound. [8] She was a 2023-2025 Princeton University Arts Fellow. [9] In 2025, she was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship in Music Composition. [10]
She performed violin at the 2024 Monheim Triennale. [11] She performed as violinist on Stephan Crump's 2024 album Slow Water; Thomas Conrad of Stereophile said that "melodies sound more yearning when played on a violin". [12]
kwon co-founded the ensemble Sun Han Guild, and she is also part of the collective Juni One Set. [2] She has also been guitarist and violinist for experimental folk-rock band The Happy Maladies. [6] Regarding her performance style, UK Jazz News said that she "draws on her Korean heritage and Japanese butoh dance as well as jazz and classical music". [11]
kwon lives in Brooklyn. [8] She is transgender. [6]