PURCHASE SEASON TICKETS (3 concerts)
Yekwon Sunwoo has been hailed for his “unfailingly consistent excellence” (International Piano) and celebrated as “a pianist who commands a comprehensive technical arsenal that allows him to thunder without breaking a sweat” (Chicago Tribune). A powerful and virtuosic performer, he also, in his own words, “strives to reach for the truth and pure beauty in music.”
The first Korean Gold Medalist of the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition, Sunwoo’s 2025–2026 season includes appearances with the Baltimore Symphony, the National Symphony Orchestra of Uzbekistan, and the Korean American Music Supporters’ Association, as well as recitals at Le French May Festival, Seoul Arts Center, and others.
Recent highlights include concerto appearances with the New York Philharmonic, Ann Arbor Symphony, Colorado Springs Philharmonic, Armenian Symphony, Kalamazoo Symphony, Macao Symphony, Victoria Symphony, Slovak Philharmonic, and Orchestre de Chambre de Paris, as well as recitals at the University of Michigan, Bechstein Hall, and Carnegie Hall.
An avid chamber musician, Sunwoo’s collaborators include Clara-Jumi Kang, Benjamin Beilman, Linus Roth, Andrei Ioniță, Isang Enders, Tobias Feldmann, Gary Hoffman, Anne-Marie McDermott, and the Jerusalem and Brentano Quartets. He has also toured Costa Rica, Guatemala, and Panama with the Kumho Asiana Cultural Foundation and performed at Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center’s Inside Chamber Music lectures.
In addition to the Cliburn Gold Medal, Sunwoo won first prizes at the 2015 International German Piano Award, the 2014 Vendome Prize at the Verbier Festival, the 2013 Sendai International Music Competition, and the 2012 William Kapell International Piano Competition.
Born in Anyang, South Korea, Sunwoo began learning piano at age 8 and made his recital and orchestral debuts in Seoul at 15. His teachers include Seymour Lipkin, Robert McDonald, Richard Goode, and Bernd Goetzke.
In September 2023, Sunwoo released his second album for Decca Universal Music Korea, featuring works by Rachmaninov, following his 2020 album of works by Mozart. In 2017, Decca Gold released Cliburn Gold 2017 two weeks after Sunwoo was awarded the Gold Medal; the album includes his award-winning performances of Ravel’s La Valse and Rachmaninov’s Second Piano Sonata.
