Yekwon Sunwoo ( ko, 선우예권; born February 10, 1989, in

Anyang Anyang (; ) is a prefecture-level city in Henan province, China. The northernmost city in Henan, Anyang borders Puyang to the east, Hebi and Xinxiang to the south, and the provinces of Shanxi and Hebei to its west and north respectively. It had a ...

) is a South Korean classical

pianist A pianist ( , ) is an individual musician who plays the piano. Since most forms of Western music can make use of the piano, pianists have a wide repertoire and a wide variety of styles to choose from, among them traditional classical music, ja ...

. In 2017, at 28 years old, Sunwoo was the first Korean to win the gold medal at the

Van Cliburn International Piano Competition The Van Cliburn International Piano Competition (The Cliburn) is an American piano competition by The Cliburn, first held in 1962 in Fort Worth, Texas and hosted by the Van Cliburn Foundation. Initially held at Texas Christian University, the co ...

. He won the

Sendai International Music Competition The Sendai International Music Competition is a triennial violin and piano music competition held in Sendai, Japan, presented in association with the Sendai International Music Competition Organizing Committee, City of Sendai and the Sendai Cu ...

in 2013.

Background

Sunwoo was born in

Anyang, South Korea Anyang () is a Administrative divisions of South Korea, city in Gyeonggi Province, South Korea. With a population of approximately 600,000, it is the 20th largest city in South Korea. It is a satellite city of Seoul and located approximately so ...

in 1989. He began studying piano at the age of 8, drawn to the instrument from hearing his two older sisters play. By 2004 at the age of 15, he had given both his recital and orchestra debuts in

Seoul Seoul (; ; ), officially known as the Seoul Special City, is the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea.Before 1972, Seoul was the ''de jure'' capital of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) as stated iArticle 103 ...

. Sunwoo attended

Seoul Arts High School Seoul Arts High School (Hangul: 서울예술고등학교), also known by the Korean-language abbreviation (Hangul: 예고), is a private arts high school located within Pyeongchang-dong, Jongno District, in Seoul, South Korea. History Seoul Art ...

in South Korea. While living in Korea, Sunwoo studied with Min-ja Shin and Sun-wha Kim. At the age of 15, Sunwoo moved to the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

to attend the

Curtis Institute of Music The Curtis Institute of Music is a private conservatory in Philadelphia. It offers a performance diploma, Bachelor of Music, Master of Music in opera, and a Professional Studies Certificate in opera. All students attend on full scholarship. Hi ...

where he received the Rachmaninoff prize and studied with

Seymour Lipkin Seymour Lipkin ( May 14, 1927 – November 16, 2015) was an American concert pianist, conductor, and educator. Early life and piano career Lipkin was born in Detroit. At age 11, he entered the Curtis Institute of Music where he studied with Dav ...

. After graduating with his

Bachelor’s degree A bachelor's degree (from Middle Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six y ...

, Sunwoo then earned his

master’s degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is an academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice.

studying with Robert McDonald at

The Juilliard School The Juilliard School ( ) is a private performing arts conservatory in New York City. Established in 1905, the school trains about 850 undergraduate and graduate students in dance, drama, and music. It is widely regarded as one of the most elit ...

, where he won both the Munz Scholarship Competition and the Arthur Rubinstein Prize. He then earned his artist diploma from the

Mannes School of Music Mannes School of Music is a music conservatory in The New School, a private research university in New York City. In the fall of 2015, Mannes moved from its previous location on Manhattan's Upper West Side to join the rest of the New School cam ...

studying with

Richard Goode Richard Goode (born June 1, 1943) is an American classical pianist who is especially known for his interpretations of Mozart and Beethoven. Early life Goode was born in the East Bronx, New York. He studied piano with Elvira Szigeti, Claude Fra ...

. Sunwoo currently studies under Bernd Goetzke at the

Hochschule für Musik, Theater und Medien Hannover Hanover University of Music, Drama and Media (german: Hochschule für Musik, Theater und Medien Hannover, italics=unset, abbreviated to HMTMH) is a university of performing arts and media in Hanover, the capital of Lower Saxony, Germany. Dating ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

Career

After winning the 2008 Florida International Piano Competition, Sunwoo gave his

Carnegie Hall Carnegie Hall ( ) is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan in New York City. It is at 881 Seventh Avenue (Manhattan), Seventh Avenue, occupying the east side of Seventh Avenue between West 56th Street (Manhattan), 56th and 57th Street (Manhatta ...

debut in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

in 2009. He went on to win several other competitions including the William Kapell International Piano Competition, Vendome Prize held at the

Verbier Festival The Verbier Festival is an annual international music festival that takes place for two weeks in late July and early August in the mountain resort of Verbier, Switzerland. Founded by Swedish expatriate in 1994, it has attracted international so ...

, and the

International German Piano Award The International German Piano Award is a yearly international music competition for classical piano music since 2011. The International Piano Forum is the initiator and organizer of the competition. The prize money amounts to a total of 20,000 eu ...

. On June 10, 2017, Sunwoo won the gold medal of the

Fifteenth Van Cliburn International Piano Competition The Fifteenth Van Cliburn International Piano Competition took place in Fort Worth, Texas, from May 25 to June 10, 2017. Commissioned work All competitors were required to play the commissioned work in their 45-minute Preliminary Round recital. It ...

Fort Worth, Texas Fort Worth is the fifth-largest city in the U.S. state of Texas and the 13th-largest city in the United States. It is the county seat of Tarrant County, covering nearly into four other counties: Denton, Johnson, Parker, and Wise. According ...

, becoming the first Korean to do so. The quadrennial competition, named in honor of pianist Van Cliburn, included four rounds of performances consisting of two 45-minute solo recitals and one 60-minute solo recital with no overlapping repertoire in addition to a piano quintet performed with the

Brentano String Quartet The Brentano Quartet is an American string quartet. History Founded in 1992 at the Juilliard School, the quartet's founding members were violinists Mark Steinberg and Serena Canin, violist Misha Amory, and cellist Michael Kannen. At the suggestio ...

and two piano concertos played with the

Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra The Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra (FWSO) is an American symphony orchestra based in Fort Worth, Texas. The orchestra is resident at the Nancy Lee and Perry R. Bass Performance Hall. In addition to its symphonic and pops concert series, the FWSO ...

, one under

Nicholas McGegan James Nicholas McGegan OBE (born 14 January 1950 in Sawbridgeworth, Hertfordshire, England) is a British harpsichordist, flutist, conductor and early music expert. Biography McGegan received his early education at Nottingham High School. He subs ...

and other under

Leonard Slatkin Leonard Edward Slatkin (born September 1, 1944) is an American conductor, author and composer. Early life and education Slatkin was born in Los Angeles to a Jewish musical family that came from areas of the Russian Empire now in Ukraine. His fat ...

. The Competition received 290 applications from which 30 were invited to compete in the live competition. By winning the gold medal, Sunwoo was awarded the Van Cliburn Cup, $50,000, three years of career management, a live recording and a recording partnership with

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

, press kits, videos, a website, and performance attire by

Neiman Marcus Neiman Marcus Group, Inc. is an American integrated luxury retailer headquartered in Dallas, Texas, which owns Neiman Marcus, Bergdorf Goodman, Horchow, and Last Call. Since September 2021, NMG has been owned by a group of investment compani ...

. Two weeks after the conclusion of the 2017 Cliburn competition, Decca Gold released ''Cliburn Gold 2017'' which includes Sunwoo’s live performances from the Competition. Sunwoo has performed with many top-tier orchestras including the

Baltimore Symphony Orchestra The Baltimore Symphony Orchestra is an American symphony orchestra based in Baltimore, Maryland. The Baltimore SO has its principal residence at the Joseph Meyerhoff Symphony Hall, where it performs more than 130 concerts a year. In 2005, it bega ...

with

Marin Alsop Marin Alsop ( �mɛər.ɪn ˈæːl.sɑːp born October 16, 1956) is an American conductor, the first woman to win the Koussevitzky Prize for conducting and the first conductor to be awarded a MacArthur Fellowship. She is music director laureate ...

Orchestre National de Belgique The Belgian National Orchestra ( nl, Nationaal Orkest van België, french: Orchestre National de Belgique) is a Belgian orchestra, based in Brussels. Its principal concert venue is the Brussels Centre for Fine Arts (Bozar). The orchestra also gi ...

Royal Scottish National Orchestra The Royal Scottish National Orchestra (RSNO) ( gd, Orcastra Nàiseanta Rìoghail na h-Alba) is a British orchestra, based in Glasgow, Scotland. It is one of the five National performing arts companies of Scotland, national performing arts compa ...

Houston Symphony Orchestra The Houston Symphony is an American orchestra based in Houston, Texas. The orchestra is resident at the Jesse H. Jones Hall for the Performing Arts. History The first concert of what was to become the Houston Symphony took place on June 21, 1 ...

with James Feddeck, and The Juilliard Orchestra with

Itzhak Perlman Itzhak Perlman ( he, יצחק פרלמן; born August 31, 1945) is an Israeli-American violinist widely considered one of the greatest violinists in the world. Perlman has performed worldwide and throughout the United States, in venues that hav ...

. He has given recitals in venues across the world including the

Berliner Philharmonie The Berliner Philharmonie () is a concert hall in Berlin, Germany, and home to the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra. The Philharmonie lies on the south edge of the city's Tiergarten and just west of the former Berlin Wall. The Philharmonie is on ...

Elbphilharmonie The Elbphilharmonie (; "Elbe Philharmonic Hall"), popularly nicknamed Elphi, is a concert hall in the HafenCity quarter of Hamburg, Germany, on the Grasbrook peninsula of the Elbe River. It is among the largest in the world. The new glassy con ...

Hamburg (male), (female) en, Hamburger(s), Hamburgian(s) , timezone1 = Central (CET) , utc_offset1 = +1 , timezone1_DST = Central (CEST) , utc_offset1_DST = +2 , postal ...

, Hamarikyu Asahi Hall in

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...

Wigmore Hall Wigmore Hall is a concert hall located at 36 Wigmore Street, London. Originally called Bechstein Hall, it specialises in performances of chamber music, early music, vocal music and song recitals. It is widely regarded as one of the world's leadin ...

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

, and

Kumho Art Hall The Kumho Art Hall () is a classical music hall in Seoul, South Korea. General Kumho Art Hall is situated in the heart of downtown Seoul on the third floor of Daewoo E&C. Performances are held more than five times a week. Three of these are p ...

. Following an announcement in December 2017, Sunwoo is currently managed worldwide by Keynote Artist Management and in Korea by MOC Production.

Chamber music

Sunwoo is an active

chamber musician Chamber music is a form of classical music that is composed for a small group of Musical instrument, instruments—traditionally a group that could fit in a Great chamber, palace chamber or a large room. Most broadly, it includes any art music ...

and has performed with such ensembles as the

Jerusalem Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...

(during the final round of the 2014 Vendome Prize Piano Competition held in Verbier) and

s in addition to violinist Ida Kafavian, cellists

Edgar Moreau Edgar Moreau at the Cité de la musique. Edgar Moreau (born 3 April 1994) is a French classical cellist. Biography Moreau was born in Paris on 3 April 1994. He began studying the cello at age four with Carlos Beyris as well as the piano, the ...

, Gary Hoffman, and

Peter Wiley Peter Wiley (born 1955) is a cellist and cello teacher. He entered the Curtis Institute of Music at 13 years of age, where he studied with David Soyer. He was then appointed principal cellist of the Cincinnati Symphony at age 20, after one year ...

, and pianist

Anne-Marie McDermott Anne-Marie McDermott is an American classical pianist and member of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center. She is also the artistic director of the Bravo! Vail Valley Music Festival, the Ocean Reef Chamber Music Festival in Key Largo, Florid ...

. He has released two albums with violinist Benjamin Beilman, ''Spectrum'' and Prokofiev Violin Sonatas. In 2007, he toured

Central America Central America ( es, América Central or ) is a subregion of the Americas. Its boundaries are defined as bordering the United States to the north, Colombia to the south, the Caribbean Sea to the east, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. ...

including

Costa Rica Costa Rica (, ; ; literally "Rich Coast"), officially the Republic of Costa Rica ( es, República de Costa Rica), is a country in the Central American region of North America, bordered by Nicaragua to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the no ...

Guatemala Guatemala ( ; ), officially the Republic of Guatemala ( es, República de Guatemala, links=no), is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the north and west by Mexico; to the northeast by Belize and the Caribbean; to the east by H ...

, and

Panama Panama ( , ; es, link=no, Panamá ), officially the Republic of Panama ( es, República de Panamá), is a transcontinental country spanning the southern part of North America and the northern part of South America. It is bordered by Cos ...

with the

Kumho Asiana Cultural Foundation Kumho Asiana Cultural Foundation Co, Ltd. () is a music, art, and entertainment company. It is headquartered in Sinmunro-1-ga Jongno-gu, Seoul, Korea. Established in 1977, it is a wholly owned subsidiary of Kumho Asiana Group. Kumho Asiana Cultu ...

. He has been presented by the

Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center (CMS) is an American organization dedicated to the performance and promotion of chamber music in New York City. It is the largest organization of its kind in the country for chamber music. CMS's home is ...

and invited to several music festivals including Summit Music, Bowdoin International, and Toronto.

Awards

Discography

References

External links

*
Cliburn profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sunwoo, Yekwon Prize-winners of the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition Living people South Korean musicians South Korean pianists South Korean classical pianists 1989 births Curtis Institute of Music alumni Juilliard School alumni Mannes School of Music alumni 21st-century classical pianists 21st-century South Korean musicians People from Anyang