SUNDAY, DECEMBER 3, 2023 · 5 PM
SEONG-JIN CHO
THE BAKER-BAUM CONCERT HALL
Prelude Lecture by Kristi Brown Montesano · 4 PM
HAYDN
Piano Sonata in E Minor, Hob. XVI: 34
RAVEL
Menuet sur le nom d’Haydn
RAVEL
Miroirs
MOZART
Adagio in B Minor, K. 540
LISZT
Sonetto 47, 104, 123 del Petrarca and Après une lecture du Dante
from Années de pèlerinage: Deuxième Année: “Italie”
With overwhelming talent and innate musicality, Seong-Jin Cho is one of the consummate talents and most distinctive artists of his generation. He made his LJMS debut in 2017 as part of our Discovery Series.
“The South Korean pianist possesses technique to burn. His tone is pearly and deep, capable of both haunting distance and grandeur.”
– The Arts Fuse
Soeng-Jin Cho was brought to the world’s attention in 2015 when he won First Prize at the Chopin International Competition in Warsaw, and his career has rapidly ascended since. In January 2016, he signed an exclusive contract with Deutsche Grammophon. An artist high in demand, Cho works with the world’s most prestigious orchestras including Berliner Philharmoniker, Wiener Philharmoniker, London Symphony Orchestra, Orchestre de Paris, New York Philharmonic and The Philadelphia Orchestra. Conductors he regularly collaborates with include Myung-Whun Chung, Gustavo Dudamel, Andris Nelsons, Yannick Nézet-Séguin, Gianandrea Noseda, Sir Simon Rattle, Santtu-Matias Rouvali, Esa-Pekka Salonen and Lahav Shani.
Highlights of Seong-Jin Cho’s 2023–24 season include his anticipated debut at the Salzburger Festspiele with the Mozarteumorchester and Ivor Bolton, and his return to London’s BBC Proms with the Philharmonia Orchestra and Santtu-Matias Rouvali. He returns to the Concertgebouworkest, Los Angeles Philharmonic and Boston Symphony Orchestra, giving performances in both Boston and Carnegie Hall, and debuts with The Cleveland Orchestra, San Francisco and Chicago Symphony Orchestras. Cho also embarks on several international tours, including with the Berliner Philharmoniker and Kirill Petrenko in Korea, and with the Gewandhausorchester Leipzig and Andris Nelsons in Korea and Japan, and performs with the National Symphony Orchestra Washington and Gianandrea Noseda throughout Europe in Spring 2024. He also appears in many of the world’s most prestigious concert halls including the main stage of Carnegie Hall, Concertgebouw Amsterdam, Berliner Philharmonie, Musikverein Wien, Konzerthaus Wien, Prinzregententheater München, Barbican London, Suntory Hall Tokyo, Walt Disney Hall Los Angeles, Festival International de piano de la Roque d’Anthéron, and Verbier Festival.
Seong-Jin Cho’s latest recording is his solo album, The Handel Project, released in February 2023, and in August 2021, he released Chopin’s Piano Concerto No. 2 and Scherzi with the London Symphony Orchestra and Gianandrea Noseda for Deutsche Grammophon. He had previously recorded his first album with the same orchestra and conductor featuring Chopin’s Piano Concerto No. 1 as well as the Four Ballades. His solo album, The Wanderer, was released in May 2020 and features Schubert’s “Wanderer” Fantasy, Berg’s Piano Sonata op. 1 and Liszt’s Piano Sonata in B minor. A solo Debussy recital was also released in November 2017, followed by a Mozart album with the Chamber Orchestra of Europe and Yannick Nézet-Séguin in 2018. All albums have been released on the Yellow Label and have garnered critical acclaim worldwide.
Born in 1994 in Seoul, Seong-Jin Cho started learning the piano at the age of six and gave his first public recital aged 11. In 2009, he became the youngest-ever winner of Japan’s Hamamatsu International Piano Competition. In 2011, he won Third Prize at the International Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow at the age of 17.