Chinary Ung was born in Takéo, Cambodia and went on to study in the USA in 1964.  Becoming a US citizen, Ung was the first American composer to win the highly coveted and international Grawemeyer Award in 1989.  Among other honours, Ung has received awards from The Kennedy Centre (Fiedheim Award), The American Academy of Arts and Letters, Asia Foundation, Ford Foundation, Guggenheim Foundation, Joyce Foundation, and the National Endowment for the Arts.  He has received many commissions including those from the Philadelphia Orchestra, Meet the Composer, Koussevitzky Foundation, Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, and the La Jolia Summerfest and Santa Fe Summer Music Festivals.  He is currently a professor of composition at the University of California, San Diego.