Pianist Kim Sun-wook to return in May

Concert pianist Kim Sun-wook is poised to hold three recitals in May, Vincero, a classical concert production company, said on Wednesday.

At his first recital in Korea this year, Kim will showcase three different colors of three great composers with a program of Schubert’s Four Impromptus D. 899, Albeniz’s ‘Iberia’: Book II and Liszt’s Piano Sonata in B minor S. 178.

The first concert will take place at 5:00 p.m. on May 15 at Seoul Arts Center. General ticketing will open at 3:00 p.m. on Thursday. He will also take to the stage with the same program at Mapo Art Center in western Seoul on May 18 and Namhansanseong Art Hall in Gwangju, Gyeonggi Province, on May 19.

Kim came to international recognition when he won the prestigious Leeds International Piano Competition in 2006, aged just 18, becoming the competition’s youngest winner in 40 years, as well as its first Asian winner.

Kim signed up with Askonas Holt in 2008, the youngest artist of the arts management company at the time and the fourth Korean musician under Askonas Holt following Chung Myung-whun, Sumi Jo and Chang Han-na.

Meanwhile, Kim, who is also pursuing a career as a conductor, has been added to Askonas Holt’s conductor roster, joining the world’s top maestros for the 2021/22 season.

He will take the baton to lead the Busan Philharmonic Orchestra in July. He made his formal debut as a conductor with the KBS Symphony Orchestra in January 2021. In October 2021, he made his European conducting debut with the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra.

Kim received a master of arts degree in conducting from the Royal Academy of Music in London in 2013, and is now based in Munich, Germany.

By Park Ga-young (gypark@heraldcorp.com)