Rin Seo - City Suite (2025) [Official Digital Download 24/96]

Korean composer/conductor Rin Seo releases City Suite, a decade-long reflection on her time in New York as a female immigrant composer, releasing October 3, 2025 via Cellar Music Group

For many across America, New York City stands as a monument to the history, tradition, and spirit of America from its foundation. For New York-based Korean composer and conductor Rin Seo, New York City stands as a monument to personal trial, ambition, struggle, and triumph. Now, with ten years of reflection, craftsmanship, and artistic development, Seo presents City Suite, an opening statement that powerfully showcases her ability to blend influences of Western classical, jazz, theater, and Korean folk music to spin stories and tell tales that enrapture audiences. As legendary composer Jim McNeely says, “[Seo’s] imagination and skill have produced a marvelous album” that features a “big-enough band…to provide power when needed but can also be very lyrical and flexible when changing textures.” Featuring a 14-piece ensemble with guest appearances by trumpeter Ingrid Jensen, the Rin Seo Collective poignantly brings to life every twist and turn of the tapestry that Seo has woven.

The album’s title, City Suite, is derived from the name of the opening three-movement suite on the album. This tripartite work collectively reflects Seo’s impressions of New York – the city in which she chose to pursue her dreams and lived for 7 years. The suite opens with “The Big Apple,” an upbeat, dynamic piece that portrays this city’s characteristic fast pace and ambition. Next is “Cityscape,” a funky piece with a riveting groove which captures two parallel emotions: the first being the awe and dazzling beauty of New York’s skyline by night, while the second being the sense of isolation and nostalgia spurred on by the urban life that such a skyline represents. The final movement in the title suite is “Alone, but Not Alone,” whose inspiration came to Seo while on a solitary walk. The piece embodies the sense of loneliness that accompanies chasing a dream in a city of such magnitude and pairs it with the hopeful realization that when surrounded by friends, family, and colleagues, one is never truly alone.

TRACKLIST

1. Rin Seo - City Suite: I. The Big Apple
2. Rin Seo - City Suite: II. Cityscape
3. Rin Seo - City Suite: III. Alone, but Not Alone
4. Rin Seo - Lullaby
5. Rin Seo - Desert Flower (feat. Ingrid Jensen)
6. Rin Seo - Music for Dance No. 2
7. Rin Seo - Blues à la Carte
8. Rin Seo - Riding a Bike (feat. Ingrid Jensen)



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