Sunwook Kim
| Sunwook Kim | |
|---|---|
| Born |
April 22, 1988 Seoul, South Korea |
| Occupation | Pianist |
| Korean name | |
| Hangul | 김선욱 |
| Revised Romanization | Gim Seonuk |
| McCune–Reischauer | Kim Sǒnuk |
Sunwook Kim (born in Seoul, 1988) is a South Korean pianist.
He came under international spotlight when he won the prestigious Leeds Competition in 2006, becoming not only the competition's youngest winner in 40 years, but also its first Asian winner. Kim's performance of Brahms Piano Concerto in D minor with The Hallé and Sir Mark Elder in the competition's final won unanimous praise from the press, and led to concerto engagements with UK's finest orchestras as well as various recitals around Europe.
At the time of the competition, Kim was a student at the Korea National University of Arts under Daejin Kim. He had also previously won the IX Ettlingen Competition and the XVIII Concours Clara Haskil. He was awarded the Artist of the Year prizes from the Daewon Cultural Foundation (2005) and Kumho Asiana Group (2007).
He has received MA degree for conducting from Royal Academy of Music in 2013.
Early life
Kim was born in Seoul, South Korea on 22 April 1988. He began studying the piano at the age of three.
He gave his debut recital aged ten and this was followed by his concerto debut two years later. He studied at the Korea National University of Arts and won Leeds International Piano Competition aged just 18.
International Awards
- 2004 Ettlingen Competition (Germany) - First prize
- 2005 Clara Haskil International Piano Competition (Switzerland) - First prize
- 2006 Leeds International Piano Competition (UK) - First prize
Career
He has established a reputation as one of the finest pianists of his generation, appearing as a concerto soloist in the subscription series of some of the world’s leading orchestras, including the London Symphony Orchestra(John Eliot Gardiner, Daniel Harding), Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra(Myung-Whun Chung), Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra (Marek Janowski), NDR Symphony Orchestra, Finnish Radio Symphony (Sakari Oramo, Andrew Manze, Tugan Sokhiev), Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen (Paavo Järvi), Philharmonia Orchestra (Vladimir Ashkenazy,Juraj Valčuha, Edward Gardner), London Philharmonic (Vassily Sinaisky), Orchestre philharmonique de Radio France(Myung-Whun Chung, Kwamé Ryan), NHK Symphony (Karl-Heinz Steffens), Hamburger Symphoniker (Guy Braunstein), Hallé Orchestra (Mark Elder), and the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra(Kirill Karabits)
Recordings
- Beethoven Piano Concerto No. 5 in E flat major, Op. 73 ‘Emperor’ (With Myung-whun Chung, Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra) - Deutsche Grammophon (2013)
- Unsuk Chin: Piano Concerto (With Myung-whun Chung, Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra) - Deutsche Grammophon (2014)
- Beethoven Piano Sonatas - No. 21 in C major, Op. 53 (Waldstein), No. 29 in B♭ major, Op. 106 (Hammerklavier) - Accentus Music (2015)
A CD featuring Unsuk Chin’s Piano Concerto attracted outstanding reviews and awards from BBC Music Magazine and International Classical Music Awards. His second recital disc will be released in January 2016, with Cesar Franck’s Prelude, choral et fugue and Brahms’s Sonata No.3.
Reviews
- His performance of Schumann piano concerto with Philharmonia Orchestra and Vladimir Ashkenazy (2010) was reported that “Virtuosity was kept firmly in check in the finale, Kim’s lightness of touch and finesse never less than compelling.”
- Kim's performance of Beethoven: Piano Concerto No. 3 with Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, Kirill Karabits at Royal Albert Hall where he made his BBC Proms debut (2013) was described by
“Kim repaid the investment by allowing every voice in this concerto to speak, shirking grand gestures and playing with absorbing concentration and nuance.” By Neil Fisher, The Times
“… the finale benefited from his energetic attack and immaculate fingerwork, while some historically informed touches gave individuality to Karabits’s astute management of the orchestral accompaniment.” By George Hall, The Guardian
- The Guardian wrote “The swell of suspended harmonies was perfectly controlled, the chords perfectly struck and voiced, and Kim always kept the sense of restless searching at just the right level of intensity” in a review of his solo recital in the Stationers’ Hall as part of the City of London festival (2014)
References
- British Broadcasting Corporation
- Concours Clara Haskil prizewinners
- Ettlingen Competition prizewinners
- Daewon Cultural Foundation
External links
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