Bios & promo — benchmark artistes

Jung Jae-il was three years old when he first played piano, and he picked up the guitar at nine. When he was 13, he posted an ad in the magazine Hot Music, "to find bass drums and vocals to do a style of music that is similar to the British heavy metal band Carcass". Jung graduated from Seoul Jazz Academy. In 1999, he joined the band Gigs (which Jung Won-yong, vocalist Lee Juck, and guitarist Han Sang-won were also part of) on bass guitar. He released his first solo album, Tear Flower (눈물꽃), in 2003. In 2007, he played with the band Puri on their second album. Jung performed on the piano during the April 2018 inter-Korean summit. In 2021, he won the Hollywood Music in Media Awards for Best Score in a TV Show for Squid Game.

With an award-winning career as a film and TV composer for some of the biggest film and TV releases of our times, the sound of Jung Jaeil isn't something many will be unacquainted with. The South-Korean composer's work on the Squid Game and Parasite soundtracks saw his ingenious, spellbinding craft beamed into movie theatres and living rooms across the globe.

The award-winning composer of the Squid Game and Parasite soundtracks takes Max Gayler through the weird and "classless" taste of a world music advocate and cinephile.

A well-known performer from Seoul, South Korea, Jung Jaeil is most known for his contributions to classical and classical crossover music. He has made a name for himself as an accomplished composer, pianist, and conductor throughout the course of a career spanning more than ten years. Rich instrumentation, sophisticated harmonies, and evocative melodies are what define Jaeil's music. His works frequently incorporate both classical and contemporary aspects, making them appealing to a broad audience. He has created a distinctive and alluring sound by skillfully fusing pop, rock, and electronic music with classical music as a classical crossover musician. Jaeil's work is a reflection of his love of classical music and dedication to expanding the genre's boundaries. His commitment to his profession has brought him a devoted following in South Korea as well as other countries. He has established himself as one of the most avant-garde and captivating classical musicians of our day because to his talent and ingenuity.

Jung Jae-il was three years old when he first played piano, and he picked up the guitar at nine. When he was 13, he posted an ad in the magazine Hot Music, "to find bass drums and vocals to do a style of music that is similar to the British heavy metal band Carcass". Jung graduated from Seoul Jazz Academy. In 1999, he joined the band Gigs (which Jung Won-yong, vocalist Lee Juck, and guitarist Han Sang-won were also part of) on bass guitar. He released his first solo album, Tear Flower (눈물꽃), in 2003. In 2007, he played with the band Puri on their second album. Jung performed on the piano during the April 2018 inter-Korean summit. In 2021, he won the Hollywood Music in Media Awards for Best Score in a TV Show for Squid Game.

Jung Jaeil, the multi-award-winning South Korean composer behind the sensational Parasite and Squid Game soundtracks, has signed to Decca Records. The first project in this new partnership will be the international release of his choral-electronic album psalms on 22 July, in partnership with Universal Music Korea. Jung's soundtrack work garnered international acclaim in 2019 with the score for Bong Joon-ho's Oscar and BAFTA-winning box office hit Parasite. The film proved a global sensation, becoming the first ever foreign-language film to win the Academy Award for Best Picture. This was followed by the soundtrack for Netflix's smash show Squid Game in 2021, which stands as the platform's most-watched series ever. He also collaborated with Bong Joon-ho on the music to the award-winning 2017 Netflix film Okja, starring Tilda Swinton and Jake Gyllenhaal. Jung Jaeil says of his signing, "I grew up listening to countless albums from Decca so am truly amazed that my music is now being released on Decca and I'm getting to join an archive filled with historical recordings from the legends. For my album 'psalms', I found so many prayers from the Bible that relate to our current lives, so I sincerely hope that this work can resonate through the difficult times." A genre-defying musician, Jung Jaeil has woven famous classical musical quotations seamlessly into his soundtrack work – composers like Handel, Beethoven and Johann Strauss can all be heard in the Squid Game and Parasite scores. In addition to his orchestral soundtracks, he has collaborated with some of the biggest names in K-pop, writing songs for artists such as Hyo Shin Park (with Wild Flower reaching No.1 in the Korean charts) and IU. On psalms, Jung interweaves choral a cappella (performed by the Budapest Scoring Orchestra and Choir) with electronic sounds and string ensemble. The music commemorates the 40th anniversary of the May 18th Democratic Uprising of Gwangju, South Korea, and uses Psalm verses from the Bible as text. It was originally scored for the audio-visual film and exhibition Round and Around, bringing to life pivotal moments from Korean history, directed by Jang Minseung and produced by the Korean Cultural Centre UK and the Korean Film Archive. Having taken up piano at the age of three and guitar aged nine, Jung Jaeil went on to graduate from the Seoul Jazz Academy. By this time, Jung's career in the soundtrack world was already underway, having worked on the score for his first film Bad Movie at the age of 15. His music for film has earned such accolades as Best Original Score for a TV Show or Limited Series at the 2021 Hollywood Music in Media Awards (for Squid Game) and Best Music at the 2020 Grand Bell Awards (for Parasite). Alongside his work as a composer, Jung Jaeil excels as a performer of multiple instruments, including guitar, bass, piano and drums and has even performed the musical saw and recorder on his soundtracks. Besides working as a session musician on over 200 K-pop albums, he has played in popular Korean groups 'gigs' and 'Puri'. Jaeil has been musical director on numerous musicals including Jesus Christ Superstar and Linie I, and plays such as Incendies, Macbeth and Salome. He is a frequent collaborator on dance productions including Little Prince with the Korea National Contemporary Dance Company and Change of Seasons with the ballerina Juwon Kim. Jung Jaeil performed piano at the historic April 2018 Inter-Korean Summit between Moon Jae-in, President of South Korea, and Kim Jong-un, Supreme Leader of North Korea.

A well-known performer from Seoul, South Korea, Jung Jaeil is most known for his contributions to classical and classical crossover music. He has made a name for himself as an accomplished composer, pianist, and conductor throughout the course of a career spanning more than ten years.

The award-winning composer of the Squid Game and Parasite soundtracks takes Max Gayler through the weird and "classless" taste