Biography: The first grand prize winner of the 1988 Carl Flesch International Violin Competition in London, Sungsic Yang has established himself as one of the leading violinists of his generation.
Mr. Yang’s international career includes performances with: the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra under Sir Yehudi Menuhin, the Scottish National Symphony, the London Mozart Players, the National Philharmonic Orchestra of Ireland, the Leningrad Chamber Orchestra, the Warsaw Chamber Orchestra, the Gavleborgs Symphony Orchestra in Sweden, the Stavanger Philharmonic in Norway, the Monte Carlo Philharmonic Orchestra under Lawrence Foster, the Orchestra Symphonique Français under Laurent Petitgirard, the London BBC Symphony Orchestra under Andrew Davis, and the Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra under Dmitri Kitayenko, with whom a live recording of the Mendelssohn and Tchaikovsky concertos have subsequently been released under the label CBS Korea. Following the success of this first collaboration, he was invited back to perform and record the Brahms and Sibelius violin concertos for Sony Classical Korea in Moscow.
At the request of Lorin Maazel, Sungsic Yang made his Paris concerto debut in 1988 with the Orchestre National de France at the occasion of the conductor’s first subscription concert as the music director of the orchestra. In addition to several studio recordings with the BBC Concert Orchestra and for Radio France, Mr. Yang’s European tour with the Seoul Philharmonic, the Scottish National Youth Orchestra, and the Gulbenkian Philharmony of Portugal has taken him to Barcelona, Frankfurt, Amsterdam (Concertgebow Hall), Rotterdam, Glasgow, Dublin, Budapest and throughout England. His recitals in prestigious Halls such as Salle Gaveau in Paris, Wigmore Hall in London, Merkin Hall in New York were unanimously acclaimed both by the critics and the audiences.
Sungsic Yang was born in Seoul, Korea, and started playing the violin at the age of four. While still only eleven he performed in recital and made his concerto debut performing the Mendelssohn concerto with the Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra. Upon his graduation from the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique de Paris, he was awarded a full scholarship to study with Yfrah Neaman at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London, England, until graduation in 1987. At the age of seventeen, he was awarded the third prize at the Paganini International Competition, and other international prizes were awarded from the Long-Thibaud, Lipizer, and Indianapolis International Competitions. In recent years, he was invited to represent Korea as a member of jury at the prestigious Long-Thibaud violin competition in Paris, the Paganini competition in Genoa, Jeunesse International Music competition in Belgrade, as well as Munetsugu competition in Nagoya, Japan. His recording “The Streghe,” works by Paganini for violin and guitar, is a record-setting success in Korea and is now becoming very popular in abroad as well.
In September 2009 he was appointed Professor of Violin in Daegu Catholic University, and he has launched a new string chamber group the “Erato Ensemble” as the Music Director.
