YEKWON SUNWOO, PIANO

CLIBURN CONCERTS

DATE: OCTOBER 3, 2017 7:30 PM CDT

VENUE: BASS PERFORMANCE HALL

“…sometimes boldly projected, sometimes intimately hushed, but always with a strongly personal stamp.” 

— Dallas Morning News

“His playing was crisp and effervescent, with crystalline trills.” — The New York Times

On June 10, 2017, 28-year-old Yekwon Sunwoo of South Korea was named gold medalist of the Fifteenth Van Cliburn International Piano Competition. An alumnus of three major American conservatories (Curtis, Juilliard, and Mannes), he has been hailed for “his total command over the instrument and its expressiveness” (San Francisco Examiner). Come warmly welcome this champion back to the Bass Hall stage as he begins his first Cliburn concert tour, which takes him around the world in recital and with orchestra this season, including to Chicago, Los Angeles, Brussels, and Seoul.

Cliburn Gold 2017 - 15th Van Cliburn International Piano Competition

Yekwon Sunwoo 

Established in 1962, the quadrennial Van Cliburn International Piano Competition is often recognized as the most prestigious classical music contest in the world (The Chicago Tribune) and remains committed to its original ideals of supporting and launching the careers of young artists, ages 18 30. It shares the transformative powers of music with a wide global audience, through fully produced webcasts and by providing comprehensive career management and concert bookings to its winners. Past winners include Radu Lupu, Jon Nakamatsu, Olga Kern, Joyce Yang, Haochen Zhang, Beatrice Rana, and Vadym Kholodenko.

On June 10, 2017, the Fifteenth Van Cliburn International Piano Competition crowned its 2017 gold medalist in Fort Worth, Texas: 28-year-old Yekwon Sunwoo of South Korea. Sunwoo gave his recital and orchestral debuts in 2004 both in Seoul, before moving to the United States in 2005 to study with Seymour Lipkin at the Curtis Institute of Music. He earned his bachelor's degree there and his master's at The Juilliard School. In addition to the Cliburn prize, Sunwoo won first prizes at the 2015 International German Piano Award in Frankfurt, the 2014 Vendome Prize held at the Verbier Festival, the 2013 Sendai International Music Competition, and the 2012 William Kapell International Piano Competition. Career highlights include performances with the Juilliard Orchestra under Itzhak Perlman at Avery Fisher Hall, Baltimore Symphony Orchestra under Marin Alsop, and the Sendai Philharmonic Orchestra as well as recitals at Carnegie Hall, Hamarikyu Asahi Hall in Tokyo, Wigmore Hall in London, and Kumho Art Hall in Seoul.