Son Sue-Kyung (; born 27 January 1985), better known by her stage name Sue Son, is a South Korean classical and crossover violinist, raised in the United Kingdom and based in

Seoul Seoul, officially Seoul Special Metropolitan City, is the capital city, capital and largest city of South Korea. The broader Seoul Metropolitan Area, encompassing Seoul, Gyeonggi Province and Incheon, emerged as the world's List of cities b ...

. She studied at London's

Royal College of Music The Royal College of Music (RCM) is a conservatoire established by royal charter in 1882, located in South Kensington, London, UK. It offers training from the undergraduate to the doctoral level in all aspects of Western Music including pe ...

and debuted in South Korea with her album ''I Am'' in August 2012 on

Universal Music Universal Music Group N.V. (often abbreviated as UMG and referred to as Universal Music Group or Universal Music) is a Dutch– American multinational music corporation under Dutch law. UMG's corporate headquarters are located in Hilversum ...

. She first became known after appearing as a contestant on ''

Britain's Got Talent ''Britain's Got Talent'' (often abbreviated to ''BGT'') is a televised British talent show competition, and part of the global '' Got Talent'' franchise created by Simon Cowell. Presented by Anthony McPartlin and Declan Donnelly (colloquial ...

'' in 2009, placing in the semi-finals.

Biography

Background

Born in Seoul, Son Sue-Kyung began playing violin at the age of six, in order to be different from her piano playing elder sister, Hee Kyung. She moved to

Colchester Colchester ( ) is a city in northeastern Essex, England. It is the second-largest settlement in the county, with a population of 130,245 at the 2021 United Kingdom census, 2021 Census. The demonym is ''Colcestrian''. Colchester occupies the ...

, England with her family at age 9, during the third year of elementary school, and went on to study, at the prestigious,

Purcell School The Purcell School for Young Musicians is a specialist private music school for children, located in the town of Bushey, south Hertfordshire, England, and is the oldest specialist music school in the UK. The school was awarded the UNESCO Mozar ...

and London's

, but left as she found it too traditional, preferring to explore other styles of music. She transferred to the

Guildhall School of Music & Drama The Guildhall School of Music and Drama is a music and drama school located in the City of London, England. Established in 1880, the school offers undergraduate and postgraduate training in all aspects of classical music and jazz along with drama ...

due to her wish to combine her violin work with DJ music, graduating in 2009.

Professional career

Sue Son first came to public attention after auditioning for the third series of UK talent show

, helmed by

Simon Cowell Simon Phillip Cowell (; born 7 October 1959) is an English television personality and businessman. He has judged on the British television talent competition shows ''Pop Idol'' (2001–2003), ''The X Factor (British TV series), The X Factor UK ...

. She performed as a duo called Addicted with keyboardist and former friend Janine Khalil, but were initially rejected. Invited back to perform solo, she gave a performance of

Vivaldi Antonio Lucio Vivaldi (4 March 1678 – 28 July 1741) was an Italian composer, virtuoso violinist, impresario of Baroque music and Roman Catholic priest. Regarded as one of the greatest Baroque composers, Vivaldi's influence during his lif ...

's ''

Summer Summer or summertime is the hottest and brightest of the four temperate seasons, occurring after spring and before autumn. At or centred on the summer solstice, daylight hours are the longest and darkness hours are the shortest, with day ...

'' on

electric violin An electric violin is a violin equipped with an electronic output of its sound. The term most properly refers to an instrument intentionally made to be electrified with built-in pickups, usually with a solid body. It can also refer to a violin fi ...

, impressing judges

Piers Morgan Piers Stefan Pughe-Morgan (; O'Meara, born 30 March 1965) is an English journalist and media personality. He began his career in 1988 at the tabloid ''The Sun (United Kingdom), The Sun''. In 1994, at the age of 29, he was appointed editor of ...

and

Amanda Holden Amanda Louise Holden (born 16 February 1971) is an English media personality, actress and singer. Since 2007, she has been a judge on the television talent competition show '' Britain's Got Talent'' on ITV. She also co-hosts the national ''H ...

as well as Simon Cowell himself, who described her performance as "phenomenal." Appearances on popular British national TV shows

GMTV GMTV (an initialism for Good Morning Television), now legally known as ''ITV Breakfast, ITV Breakfast Broadcasting Limited'', was the name of the national ITV (TV network), ITV breakfast television contractor/licensee, broadcasting in the Uni ...

and This Morning followed. At the semi-finals Son performed ''Explosive'' by

Bond Bond or bonds may refer to: Common meanings * Bond (finance), a type of debt security * Bail bond, a commercial third-party guarantor of surety bonds in the United States * Fidelity bond, a type of insurance policy for employers * Chemical bond, t ...

and met her idol,

Vanessa Mae Vanessa-Mae ( zh, s=陈美, p=Chén Měi; born 27 October 1978), also called Vanessa-Mae Vanakorn Nicholson, is a British violinist with album sales reaching several million, having made her the wealthiest entertainer under 30 in the United Ki ...

, subsequently being eliminated then. Son then made a number of TV appearances in South Korea, including on

Arirang ''Arirang'' ( ) is a Korean folk song. There are about 3,600 variations of 60 different versions of the song, all of which include a refrain similar to "arirang, arirang, arariyo" (""). It is estimated that the song is more than 600 years old ...

's ''Heart to Heart'' talk show, KBS show ''Every Morning'' and on 15 August 2009, on SBS's popular TV Show

Star King ''Star King'' (also published as ''The Star King'') is a science fiction novel by American writer Jack Vance, the first in his Demon Princes series. It tells the story of a young man, Kirth Gersen, who sets out to track down and avenge himsel ...

alongside

Jo Kwon Jo Kwon ( born on August 28, 1989) is a South Korean singer, television host, actor, entertainer and the leader of South Korean boy band 2AM. He has starred in multiple musicals such as '' Jesus Christ Superstar'' playing the role of King He ...

of 2AM. Son was then chosen as an ambassador for the

Seoul Tourism Organization The Seoul Tourism Organization (STO; ) is a public interest corporation established by local governments in Seoul, South Korea. It's also called a Seoul Tourism Foundation. The organization was established on May 1, 2018. The purpose of the organi ...

, performing at the Annual Association Congress 2010 at London's Riverbank and at the Seoul MICE Industry Networking Concert 'Seoul on the Move' in

Bangkok Bangkok, officially known in Thai language, Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon and colloquially as Krung Thep, is the capital and most populous city of Thailand. The city occupies in the Chao Phraya River delta in central Thailand and has an estim ...

, Thailand. She would go on to perform again for the Seoul Tourism Organization in

Las Vegas Las Vegas, colloquially referred to as Vegas, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and the county seat of Clark County. The Las Vegas Valley metropolitan area is the largest within the greater Mojave Desert, and second-l ...

for 'Seoul Style' in October 2012. After a year of performing at various events around the UK, Son then returned to the South Korea permanently to work on her debut material. In July 2011 her first single ''I Wish'' topped the country's crossover charts. She also became a frequent guest on

Mnet M-Net (an abbreviation of Electronic Media Network) is a South African pay television channel established by Naspers in 1986. The channel broadcasts both local and international programming, including general entertainment, children's series, ...

's music show, ''Yoon Do-hyun's Must''. On 23 July 2011, Sue Son appeared on stage as a special guest of YB at their show at the Olympic Hall. She would go on to perform throughout their tour of 13 cities in South Korea. Son performed live at the opening of the

Mnet Asian Music Awards The MAMA Awards (, formerly Mnet Asian Music Awards) is a major Music award, music awards ceremony presented annually by entertainment company CJ ENM. First held in South Korea, the majority of prizes have been won by K-pop artists, although ...

, MAMA 2011 on 29 November at

Singapore Indoor Stadium The Singapore Indoor Stadium, known exonymously as the Indoor Stadium, is an indoor arena located in Kallang, Singapore. It is within walking distance of the Singapore National Stadium, and collectively form a part of the wider Singapore S ...

. Her performance of ''It Burns'' was a collaboration with

Dynamic Duo Dynamic duo may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music *Dúo Dinámico (Spanish for Dynamic Duo), a Spanish musical duo formed in 1958 and one of the main precursors of pop music in Spain *Dynamic Duo (South Korean duo) Dynamic Duo (; ...

, Simon-D and YB. Son has appeared twice on popular MBC TV show

I Am a Singer ''I Am a Singer'' () is a popular South Korean singing competition program; a part of MBC's '' Sunday Night'' lineup. Seven talented, veteran Korean singers perform for a selected audience, which votes to eliminate one singer after each week's ...

, on 17 July 2011 with YB performing a cover of 크게 라디오를 켜고 by

Sinawe Sinawe () is a heavy metal/rock band from South Korea. Led by guitarist and sole constant member Shin Daechul, they are credited as being the first heavy metal band in South Korea. During its golden age in the late 1980s and mid 1990s, many now ...

, and August 2012 with opera singer KAI. Sue Son's debut album ''I Am Son Sue Kyung'' was released on 29 August 2012, featuring a range of classical, rock and pop music. Guest artists included Son Seung Yeon, Hip-Hop act

and Hip-Hop trio

Phantom Phantom, phantoms, or the phantom may refer to: * Spirit (metaphysics), the vital principle or animating force within all living things ** Ghost, the soul or spirit of a dead person or animal that can appear to the living Aircraft * Boeing Phanto ...

. In November 2012 Sue Son's collaboration on the song ''Still You'' with

Yoon Do-hyun Yoon Do-hyun (born February 3, 1972) is a South Korean hard rock/folk rock singer, musician, and songwriter. He is the founder and lead vocalist of the YB (band), Yoon Do-hyun Band (YB) since 1996. Yoon is also an MC on TV variety programs (not ...

of popular South Korean rock group YB was released as a video and single. Sue Son made her acting debut as Sara Han in the 2015 film ''

Seoul Searching ''Seoul Searching'' is a 2016 American comedy-drama set in Seoul, Korea written and directed by Benson Lee and starring Justin Chon, Jessika Van, Cha In-pyo and Teo Yoo. Premise Seoul, 1986. A raucous gaggle of foreign born Korean teenagers ...

''.

Discography

Singles

*I Wish (2011)

Albums

* I AM (2012)

References

External links

Official Management Site
*
Sue Son's Official Twitter
{{DEFAULTSORT:Son, Sue Musicians from Seoul Living people 21st-century South Korean classical violinists 21st-century South Korean actresses Britain's Got Talent contestants South Korean film actresses 1985 births South Korean women violinists 21st-century South Korean women musicians Musicians from Colchester