Yekwon Sunwoo
Praised by the Examiner for »the soft caressing touches in quiet passages and his total command over the instrument and the expressiveness«, pianist Yekwon Sunwoo won First Prize at the 2014 Vendome Prize held at the prestigious Verbier Festival. In addition, he won First Prize at the 2013 Sendai International Music Competiton; First Prize at the 2012 Piano Campus International Concours in France, including the audience prize; First Prize at the 2012 William Kapell International Piano Competition, including audience and chamber awards; Laureate in the 2010 Queen Elisabeth Competition; and First Prize at the 2009 Interlaken Classics Competition in Switzerland.
Mr. Sunwoo has performed extensively as a soloist with numerous orchestras including The Juilliard Orchestra under Itzhak Perlman at Avery Fisher Hall, The Baltimore Symphony Orchestra under Marin Alsop, Orchestre National de Belgique at Palais des Beaux-Artsthe, Sendai Philharmonic Orchestra, Hiroshima Symphony Orchestra, l’Orchestre Philharmonique de Maroc, Houston Symphony Orchestra, Orlando Philharmonic Orchestra, and Orchestre Royal de Chambre de Wallonie. Mr. Sunwoo’s past recital appearances include Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall, Hamarikyu Asahi Hall in Tokyo, Wigmore Hall in London, Radio France and Salle Cortot in Paris, and Kumho Art Hall in Seoul. He has been featured on WQXR’s McGraw-Hill »Young Artists Showcase« and given numerous recitals throughout Germany, Switzerland, Prague, and Morocco.
Mr. Sunwoo’s wide chamber music experience includes an invitation from the Kumho Asiana Cultural Foundation to tour in Costa Rica, Guatemala, and Panama. He has performed for the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center’s Inside Chamber Music Lectures and has collaborated with Ida Kavafian and Peter Wiley on Curtis On Tour and with Roberto Diaz on the Bay Chamber Concerts. He has also performed with the Jerusalem Quartet, Gary Hoffman, Anne-Marie McDermott, and Michael Tree. He has been invited to perform at various chamber music festivals such as the Summit Music Festival, Bowdoin International Music Festival, Toronto Summer Music Academy and Festival, Music from Angel Fire, and Chamber Music Northwest.
Born in Anyang, South Korea in 1989, Mr. Sunwoo previously studied with Min-ja Shin and Sun-wha Kim in Korea. From 2005, he studied with Seymour Lipkin at The Curtis Institute of Music, where he received Rachmaninoff Prize in Piano. He later studied with Robert McDonald and earned his Master’s degree at The Juilliard School, where he won the Munz Scholarship Competition and received the Arthur Rubinstein Prize. He currently works with Richard Goode at Mannes College The New School for Music.
Mr. Sunwoo recorded his first solo album on the Fontec label in 2014 and it features The Wanderer Fantasy by Schubert, selections from 12 Lieder von Schubert by Liszt, Sonata No.2 (1931 Edition) by Rachmaninoff, and La valse by Ravel. He is represented by MOC Production in Korea.