Kun-Woo Paik
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| Kun-woo Paik | |
|---|---|
| Born | May 10, 1946 Seoul, South Korea |
| Genre(s) | Classical |
| Occupation(s) | Pianist |
| Instrument(s) | Piano |
| Years active | fl. ca. 1956-present |
| Label(s) | DECCA |
| Website | http://www.kunwoopaik.com |
Kun-woo Paik (born May 10, 1946) is a South Korean pianist.
Contents |
[edit] Early life
Kun Woo Paik was born in Seoul and gave his first concert, aged 10, with the Korean National Orchestra (Grieg piano concerto). In the following years he performed many important works in Korea, including several premieres such as Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition. Later he studied in New York (Juilliard School), London, and in Italy with Rosina Lhevinne, Ivona Kabos, Guido Agosti and Wilhelm Kempff. Kun Woo Paik is also a laureate of the Naumburg and Busoni International Piano Competitions.
[edit] Career
Over the years Kun Woo Paik has performed recitals in major musical centres such as the Lincoln Center, Carnegie Hall, Wigmore Hall and Berlin Philharmonie. He has also performed with such orchestras as the London Symphony, BBC Symphony (Last Night of the Proms 1987), Pittsburgh Symphony, Russian National Orchestra, Saint Petersburg Philharmonic, Orchestre de Paris, Orchestre National de France, Ensemble Orchestral de Paris, Rai Torino, Warsaw Philharmonic, English Chamber Orchestra and Polish National Radio Orchestra, with such conductors as Mariss Jansons, Sir Neville Marriner, Lawrence Foster, Mikhail Pletnev, Dmitri Kitaenko, James Conlon, John Nelson and Eliahu Inbal. Kun Woo Paik is also a regular guest artist at major music festivals such as the Berlin Festwochen, Aix-en-Provence, La Roque d’Antheron, Colmar, Spoleto, Aldeburgh, "Mostly Mozart" and Ravinia Festivals, and has toured extensively in Australia, New Zealand, Asia and Italy.
His repertoire is very varied and comprises such rare works as Busoni’s piano concerto, Fauré’s Fantasy for piano and orchestra and Liszt’s Fantasy on themes from Berlioz’s Lelio. Kun Woo Paik also performs a wide selection of transcriptions by Liszt and Berlioz and is the dedicatee of Suk-Hi Kang’s piano concerto.
Mr Paik has recorded the complete Prokofiev piano concertos with Antoni Wit/Polish Radio Symphony Orchestra for RCA (Diapason d’or in 1993), the complete Rachmaninov’s piano with Wladimir Fedosseyev / Moscow Radio Symphony Orchestra (BMG), as well as several solo CDs of Scriabin, Liszt, Mussorgsky, Rachmaninov, Mendelssohn piano music. In 2000 he signed an exclusive recording contract with Decca Classics. The first release was Bach/Busoni, a much acclaimed CD of transcriptions of Bach’s organ works. In February 2002 Decca will release a 2nd recital dedicated to Fauré.
Kun Woo Paik lives in Paris, is the Artistic Director of the Emerald Coast Music Festival in Dinard (France) and was made "Chevalier de l’ordre des arts et des lettres" by the French Government in 2000. In September 2000 he was the first Korean artist to be officially invited to perform in China.
[edit] Discography
- 1992 Ravel: Complete Piano Works
- 1992 Prokofiev Piano Sonata No. 6-8
- 1994 Prokofiev Complete Piano Concertos
- 1995 Ravel Piano Concertos
- 1996 Kun Woo Paik Plays Scriabin
- 1998 Mendelssohn Songs Without Words
- 1998 Rachmaninov Complete Works for Piano and Orchestra
- 2000 Liszt · Debussy · Poulenc · Satie Piano Works
[Contracted with DECCA at 2000]
- 2000 Bach, J.S. transcr. Busoni: Toccata; Chorale Preludes; Chaconne
- 2002 Kun Woo Paik plays Gabriel Fauré
- 2003 Chopin: Complete Works For Piano & Orchestra
- 2005 Beethoven Piano Sonatas No. 16 - 26
- 2006 Beehtoven Piano Sonatas No. 1 - 15
- 2007 Beethoven Piano Sonatas No. 27 - 32
- 2008 Beethoven complete piano sonatas 1-32 Decca inKorea
[edit] Awards
- 1967 Winner of Naumberg International Piano Competition
- 1969 Winner of Busoni International Piano Competition
- 1992 Golden Diapason Prize (Alexander Scriabin Album)
- 1993 Golden Diapason Prize (Sergei Prokofiev Album)
[edit] References
- Decca Music Group Website
- International Who's Who in Music & International Directory (13th Edition, 1992/93)
[edit] External links
- Official Site
- DECCA Paik Kun Woo Biography
- Kun-Woo Paik (Piano) at Bach-Cantata.com
