1989 – Chinary Ung

Cambodian folk melodies and Western composition techniques are masterfully fused in Chinary Ung’s “Inner Voices,” winner of the 1989 award. The work, commissioned by the Pennsylvania Arts Council for the Philadelphia Orchestra, premiered in 1986.

One music critic who attended the performance called the composition “lavishly colored, and wholly understandable in terms of contemporary American eclecticism.”

Others have applauded Ung for his ability to combine elements of Eastern and Western music with such success.

More than 300 radio stations carried a National Public Radio broadcast of “Inner Voices” in January 1987.