Sacred Organ Works

Organist Dong-ill Shin has been hailed as "one of the world's most promising talents of his generation" (Echo Republicain, France) and as having "formidable discipline and considerable musicality" (Dallas Morning, USA) and "an amazing technique, sensibility, and talent" (ABC, Spain).  

Shin debuted as a pianist with The Busan Philharmonic Orchestra at the age of 10 and began his organ studies with Dr. Sun-woo Choo at 14 years old. Having majored in Organ Performance and Church Music under Dr. Tong-soon Kwak at Yonsei University in Seoul, he graduated with a Bachelor of Music in 1997. Shin furthered his studies in France with Jean Boyer and received Diplôme National d'Etudes Supérieures Musicales from the Conservatoire National Superieur de Musique de Lyon. He later enrolled in the prestigious Cycle de Perfectionnement Program and studied under Olivier Latry and Michel Bouvard at the Conservatoire National Superieur de Musique de Paris. 

Shin has won numerous international accolades at competitions such as the Musashino-Tokyo International Organ Competition, the Prague Spring International Music Festival and Competition, the St. Albans International Organ Competition, and the Grand Prix de Chartres International Organ Competition.  

A prolific performer, Shin has held concerts all over the world and played at prestigious venues such as the Grand Auditorium de Radio (France), Cathédrale de Notre Dame (France), Bartok National Concert Hall (Budapest), Meyerson Symphony Hall and the Methuen Memorial Music Hall (USA), Mariinsky Concert Hall (Russia), Musashino Bunkakaikan (Japan), Victoria Concert Hall (Singapore), Hong Kong Cultural Centre Concert Hall, Forbidden City National Concert Hall (China), Lotte Concert Hall (Korea) and Melbourne Town Hall (Australia). He has also performed at the Washington National Cathedral, St. Patrick’s Cathedral (New York City) and the First Congregational Church (Los Angeles). He has played at several music festivals, including the Monaco International Organ Festival, Chartres International Organ Festival, St. Albans International Festival, Nuremberg International Festival, the Festival du Comminges, and International Bamboo Organ Festival.   

Shin has played under the baton of Jean-Claude Casadessus, Yoel Levi, Hans Graf, Myungwhun Chung and Thierry Fischer. He has also collaborated with musicians, such as Sumi Cho and Yo Yo Ma. He has premiered new works by Unsook Chin and Joel Martinson and has been commissioning new works for organ and saenghwang. His collaboration with saenghwang player Hyoyoung Kim has been highly praised as a “wonderful collaboration between two instruments that have different backgrounds but have the same way of producing sound. They show how a Korean traditional instrument can marry with a typical Western instrument.”  

He has been a featured artist on KBS Radio (Korea), NHK Satellite Television (Japan), France Musique, Radio France, and MEZZO Television (France), Lithuanian National Television, Hungarian National Radio, Spanish National Radio, Bayerischer Rundfunk radio, Radio Luxembourg, Australian 'Art and Sound' Radio, and WCRB, UPR, KBYU, and Pipedreams in the USA.  

Shin held music positions for over 10 years in the USA before moving back to his native South Korea in 2011. He is currently Professor of Organ and University Organist at Yonsei University, Seoul.