Hayoung Choi, cello

A daring cellist with intense and flamboyant playing.” – Le Soir
“She captured the hearts of the audience and judges with her boldness and her inward-looking as well as expressive playing.” – RTBF

Korean cellist Hayoung Choi sprang to fame after clinching the First Prize at major international cello competitions — the 2022 Queen Elisabeth Competition for Cello, the Krzysztof Penderecki International Cello Competition, and the Johannes Brahms International Competition.

Other international prizes she has garnered recently include the “Landgrave of Hesse Prize” at the Kronberg Cello Masterclasses and the inaugural FENDI Music Award.

During the past few seasons, she has appeared with the Brussels Philharmonic Orchestra, Belgian National Orchestra, Poznan Philharmonic Orchestra, Kosice Philharmonic Orchestra, Krakow Philharmonic, Boston Philharmonic Orchestra, New York Classical Players and Korea’s KBS Symphony Orchestra.

Her 2023/24 engagements included appearances with the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra (July 2024), Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester, Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra, European Union Youth Orchestra and Filarmônica de Minas Gerais.

A native of Bielefeld, Germany, Choi, 26, made her debut with Camerata Salzburg performing Haydn’s Cello Concerto No.1 at the age of twelve. Since then, she has performed with numerous orchestras such as Kremerata Baltica Orchestra, Frankfurt Opera and Museum Orchestra, Barcelona Chamber Orchestra and Krakow Philharmonic Orchestra. She was invited to play at international music festivals — the Amsterdam Cello Biennale, Kronberg Cello Festival, City of London Festival and Parades Pablo Casals Festival.
As a chamber musician, she has performed with musicians like András Schiff, Gidon Kremer, Christian Tetzlaff, Kim Kashkashian, Jörg Widmann and Mitsuko Uchida.

She studied at the Korean National Univeristy of Arts with Myung-Wha Chung and Hyongwon Chang. She attended the Purcell School in England and received her Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees at the Kronberg Academy in Germany where her teacher was Frans Helmerson. Later, she completed a professional studies program in Kronberg, studying with Wolfgang Emanuel Schmidt. Her current teacher is Ivan Monighetti at the Escuela Superior de Música Reina Sofía in Madrid, Spain.

She plays the 1707 ex-Starker Joseph filius Andrea Guarnerius cello on loan from an anonymous donor.

Minsoo Sohn, piano

Described by the New York Times as “a genuine artist, with a thoughtfully conceived and poetic interpretation” and the Boston Globe as “born to play the piano,” Sohn is a Korean-American pianist known for his musical intelligence and masterful virtuosity —qualities that have earned him acclaim throughout the United States, Canada and Korea. His readings of the works of Bach and Beethoven in particular have placed him among the elect in this repertoire, and the inspired ingenuity of his performances of orchestral repertoire have earned him many accolades.

Sohn has toured extensively throughout North and South America, Europe, Israel and Korea and has appeared in important venues and festivals.

As a soloist, he has performed with leading orchestras including Boston Symphony, Boston Pops, Calgary Philharmonic, Israel Philharmonic, Orchestre Symphonique de Québec, Jerusalem Camerata, Holland Symfonia, National Orchestra of Belgium, Cleveland Chamber Orchestra, Korean National Orchestra and KBS Symphony among others and collaborated with leading conductors such as Yannick Nézet-Séguin, Keith Lockhart, Pietari Inkinen, Mikhail Agrest, Sasha Goetzel, Jole Levi, Jane Glover, Jahja Ling and Georges Octors.

Sohn is particularly noted for his interpretation of Bach’s Goldberg Variations, and the New York Times praised his Honens-label recording of the work as a “beautifully articulated, radiant interpretation,” placing it one of the top classical recordings of 2011. His recordings also received critical acclaim by New Yorker Magazine, Plain Dealer, Gramophone, Calgary Herald and Toronto Star among others.

In 2020, coinciding with the 250th anniversary of Beethoven’s birth, Mr. Sohn concluded his four year immersion in the composer’s music, which has included concert series, recordings and writings. Over the course of his Beethoven project, Mr.Sohn performed and recorded the composer’s thirty-two sonatas in series of recitals at Seoul Arts Center and recording sessions at Tongyeong Concert Hall. The recital series also included Beethoven’s monumental Diabelli Variations and Bagatelles. The Sony Classical released the highly anticipated nine-album set of “Complete Beethoven Piano Sonatas” in the Fall of 2020.

Sohn owes much of his success to his mentors, Russell Sherman and Wha Kyung Byun, with whom he studied with at the New England Conservatory in Boston.

After teaching at Michigan State University, Sohn returned to South Korea where he instantly became a much sought after performer and pedagogue, as he joined the faculty at Korean National University of Arts. He has also served on the jury at prominent international piano competitions including Honens, Top of the World and Busoni Competition.

Mr.Sohn continues to expand his reputation as a teacher, performer and a musical thinker. In fall 2023, Sohn joined the piano faculty at New England Conservatory.

Hera Hyesang Park, soprano

Hallled by The New York Times for heir “bright, clear voic,e and impressive coloratura technique,” Korean soprano Hera Hyesang Park is attracting the attention of opera houses and coIncert houses worldwide. In the 2022-23 season, Hyesang returns to the Staatsoper Berlin for Adina L’elisir d’amore and makes her role debut as Nannetta Falstaff al The Metropolitan Opera. In concert, she sings Mahler’s Symphony No. 4 with San Diego Symphony and Naples Philharmonic; Handel’s Messiah with St. Paul’s Chamber Orchestra and appears with Baltimore Symphony as soloist in their Lunar New Year celebration concert. Hyesang will also giv,e recital and concert performances on tour in Mexico, South America and South Korea.

The 2021-22 season saw Hyesaing triumph In three role debuts: Pamina The Magic Flute at the Metropolitan Opera; Susanna Le Nozze di Figaro at Glyndebourne Festival and Adina at Staatsoper Berlin. She also made her Opera national de Paris debut in Marina Abramovic’s Seven Deaths of Maria Ca.ffas. Concert highlights included gala concerts with the New York Philllarmonic and Prague Philharmonia as well as a multi-city tour of South Kore-a.

Hera Hyesang Park’s honours and awards include first prize in the April 2016 Gerda Lissner Foundation International Competition, second prize and the Audience Choice Award at the 2015 Montreal International Musical Competition, winning second place overall in the women’s division in Placido Domingo’s 2015 International Operalia competition, as well as taking First Prize in the women’s Zarzuela.

Hera Hyeasang Park records exclusively for Deutsche Grammophon. Her debut album I am Hera was released in November 2020.

 

 

 

 

 

Sung-Won Yang, cello

Biography: Cellist Sung-Won Yang has performed throughout the world as a soloist and chamber musician. He has given solo and chamber music concerts in prestigious venues as Alice Tully Hall at Lincoln Center in New York, the Salle Pleyel and Théâtre des Champs Elysées in Paris, the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, the Terrace Theater at the Kennedy Center in Washington DC, the Musikverein in Vienna, the Opera City Hall in Tokyo, Symphony Hall in Osaka and the National Center for the Performing Arts in Beijing. His recitals have also led to other leading cities, such as London, Rome, Frankfurt, Madrid, Prague, Helsinki, Boston, Seattle, Tel Aviv, Shanghai, Sydney and many others. Born in Korea, Sung-Won Yang graduated from the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique de Paris and was assistant to Janos Starker at Indiana University in the United States. He was invited to be in the jury of the International Competition of Chamber Music in Banff, Canada, the International Cello Competition André Navarra in France, the International Cello Competition Cassado Japan and the Tongyeong International Competition in Korea. Recipient of numerous awards, he is currently a professor of cello at the School of Music Yonsei University in Seoul, visiting professor at the Royal Academy of Music and Artistic Director of the Festival Owon at Chateau de la Bourdaisière, in France.