On June 10, 2017, Yekwon Sunwoo was announced as the Gold Medalist at the 15th Van Cliburn International Piano Competition. In its 55-year history, the quadrennial Cliburn has identified and ushered a host of exceptional artists to international prominence, including Barry Douglas, Olga Kern, Radu Lupu, Jon Nakamatsu, and Cristina Ortiz.
28-year-old Yekwon, from Anyang, South Korea, gave his recital and orchestral debuts in 2004 in Seoul, before moving to the United States to earn his bachelor’s degree at the Curtis Institute of Music and his master’s at The Juilliard School. Career highlights include performances with the Juilliard Orchestra under Itzhak Perlman at Avery Fisher Hall, Baltimore Symphony Orchestra under Marin Alsop, and the Sendai Philharmonic Orchestra, as well as recitals at Carnegie Hall, Hamarikyu Asahi Hall in Tokyo, Wigmore Hall in London, and Kumho Art Hall in Seoul. Yekwon has already graced the VRS stage; he performed with violinist Benjamin Beilman at the Vancouver Playhouse in the 2016-17 Season.
SCHUBERT: Sonata in C minor D. 958
GRAINGER: “Ramble on the last Love-duet” from Richard Strauss’ Der Rosenkavalier
RACHMANINOV: Sonata No. 2 in B-flat minor Op. 36 (1931 Edition)
RAVEL: La Valse
“One of the world’s highest-visibility classical music contests” — The Dallas Morning News
“Technical brilliance set off by artistic sensitivity.” — Washington Post
Concert Sponsor: Anonymous
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