Yeol Eum Son In Concert

Yeol Eum Son is a double 2nd Prize winner, at the Tchaikovsky International Piano Competition in 2011 and at the 13th Van Cliburn International Piano Competition in 2009. Her graceful interpretations and thrilling performances of works ranging from Mozart to Shchedrin have caught the attention of audiences worldwide.

In 2017-18 season and beyond, Son’s orchestral debuts include the CBSO under Wellber, London’s Cadogan Hall with the Academy of St Martin in the Fields, Grafenegg Festival with The Tonkunstler Orchestra, Budapest Festival Orchestra under Kitajenko, and Orchestre de la Suisse Romande under Dutoit. Recitals include returns to the Helsingborg Piano Festival, Fribourg International Piano Series and debuts in Duisburg, San Francisco Chamber Music Society and The Phillips Collection in Washington DC.

Spring 2018 sees a release of her newest recording (Onyx) of Mozart’s Piano Concerto No 21, of which her performance at the 2011 Tchaikovsky Competition has reached over 9 million views on YouTube. The recording features the Academy of St Martin in the Fields and Sir Neville Marriner for whom it was the very last recording.

Son currently studies with Arie Vardi at the Hochschule für Musik Theater und Medien Hannover in Germany. She is an honorary ambassador of the Seoul Arts Center and her home city of Wonju.

Programme:

GERSHWIN: When You Want ‘Em, You Can’t Get ‘Em; Rialto; Swanee
RAVEL: Le tombeau de Couperin
STRAVINSKY: Petrushka

A leading international artist possessing penetrating interpretative powers, Yeol Eum Son had our patrons standing and cheering when she performed in our 21st season. The highly popular artist was a winner at the XIVth International Tchaikovsky Competition and recipient of the Silver Medal at the 13th Van Cliburn International Piano Competition. She performs with notable orchestras worldwide.

New York Concert Review says she posses, “A kind of superhuman eclat that can easily remind you of Hoffmann or Lhevinne in its supremely clear, neat and even brilliance.”

Her discography includes a work released in 2016 with the music of early 20th century composers, Berg, Prokofiev, Stravinsky and Ravel as well as her debut CD of complete Chopin Etudes released in 2004 and Chopin Nocturnes for Piano and Strings  in 2008.

Currently residing in Germany, Yeol Eum Son  studies with Arie Vardi at the Hochschule für Musik Theater und Medien Hannover. She holds a degree from the Korean National University of Arts, under the guidance of Dae Jin Kim. Previously she had studied with Cheng-Zong Yin, one of China’s most prominent pianists. Yeol Eum is an honorary ambassador of the Seoul Arts Center and her home city of Wonju.

Programme:

MOZART: Nine Variations in C major
PART: Variations for the Healing of Arinushka
RAVEL: Valses nobles et sentimentales
SCHUBERT/LISZT: Valse-caprice no. 6 from “Soiree de Vienne”
RACHMANINOFF: Preludes, op. 32
GULDA: Play Piano Play

Winner of Silver Medals at both the Tchaikovsky Competition and the Van Cliburn Competition, Yeol Eum Son’s graceful interpretations, crystalline touch and passionate performances have enthralled audiences worldwide.

Programme:

MOZART Nine Variations in C major
PART Variations for the Healing of Arinushka
RAVEL Valses nobles et sentimentales
SCHUBERT/LISZT Valse-caprice no. 6 from “Soiree de Vienne”
RACHMANINOV Preludes, op. 32 (excerpts)
GULDA Play Piano Play (excerpts)

Yeol Eum Son made her recording debut in 2004 with a complete set of Chopin’s Études, the same year she performed Liszt’s Piano Concerto No. 1 with the New York Philharmonic and Lorin Maazel during the orchestra’s tour to South Korea. She is a prize-winner at both the Tchaikovsky Piano Competition and the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition. Among her solo recital repertoire are Mozart’s Fantasia in C minor—one of his most daring and adventurous piano works, late Brahms, one of the earliest pieces in Arvo Pärt’s tintinnabuli style, and the demonic magnificence of Liszt’s Mephisto Waltz No. 1. She will also play one of Ravel’s favorites among his own piano works, Valses nobles et sentimentales.

Programme:

MOZART: Fantasia for Piano in C minor, K. 475
BRAHMS: Klavierstücke for Piano, Op. 118
PÄRT: Variations for the Healing of Arinushka for Piano
RAVEL: Valses nobles et sentimentales
LISZT: Mephisto Waltz No. 1, “Der Tanz in Der Dorfshenke,” S. 514

Described as “marvellous, intense and boundlessly virtuosic”, Yeol Eum Son has won accolades at the most prestigious international piano competitions and caught the attention of audiences worldwide with her thrilling performances.

Following the success of their acclaimed 2016 collaboration in her native South Korea, this concert offers the chance to see the exciting young pianist join forces with the Academy of St Martin in the Fields for two of Mozart’s most exquisite piano concertos.

The evening – which also features the fifth of Haydn’s ParisSymphonies directed by the Academy’s Leader Tomo Keller – celebrates the launch of Yeol Eum Son’s new CD, which includes recordings with the celebrated orchestra.

Programme:

HAYDN: L’isola disabitata Overture
MOZART: Piano Concerto No. 21 in C major, K. 467
MOZART: Piano Concerto No. 8 in C major, K. 246
HAYDN: Symphony No. 86 in D major