PROGRAM

S. Barber - "Music for a Scene from Shelley", Op. 7
L.V. Beethoven  -  Piano Concerto No. 4 in G Major, Op. 58
Sunwook Kim, piano

P.I. Tchaikovsky  -  Symphony No. 6 in b minor, Op. 74 "Pathetique"

Newspaper conference before the performance with all the correspodents of Korean newspapers here and in Korea. (From left to right: Soo Keun Song, Director of Korean Cultural Service NY; Daejin Kim, Artistic director & conductor of Suwon Phil.; Soon-Hee Lee, President of Korea Music Foundation; Sunwook Kim, piano soloist)

Maestro, Daejin Kim with his pupil, Sunwook Kim

Suwon Philharmonic Orchestra

Suwon Philharmonic Orchestra was founded by Suwon City to provide high quality culture to Suwon citizens and enlighten their lives. The rich history of Suwon Philharmonic Orchestra began its first performance in April, 1982 and gives over 60 concerts annually.

The Suwon Philharmonic Orchestra has earned reputation for presenting beautiful music to thousands of music lovers and became one of Korea's leading orchestras.

In April, 2008, Suwon Philharmonic Orchestra invited Conductor Daejin Kim as the 6th Music director.

Suwon Philharmonic Orchestra members are highly qualified players and recognized globally for their excellent performance skills. Suwon Philharmonic Orchestra has had many concerts in Canada, United States, Thailand, England, Spain, Japan, Indonesia, Taiwan, China, and Germany where the orchestra performed its outstating performances and received massive applause from local audiences.

In addition, Suwon Philharmonic Orchestra played a significant role during the Suwon International Festivals from 1999 to 2002. Famous artists were invited from all over the world to perform at Suwon Outdoor Music Hall and GyeongGi Culture Center.

In June, 2003, Suwon Philharmonic Orchestra appointed Maestro Yuzo-Toyama(the permanent conductor of NHK Symphony Orchestra in Japan) as its honorary conductor. Also, on October 9, 2003, Suwon Philharmonic Orchestra had a concert at the "2003 Asia Orchestra Week" at "The symphony hall" in Osaka by invitation of the Association of Japanese Symphony Orchestras. Moreover, the orchestra was invited from "Eckelshausner Musik Fest 2004" in Germany and had 4 concerts as well.

Daejin Kim, Music director & conductor

Daejin Kim has successfully consolidated the well-deserved status   as one of the leading pianists and pedagogues in Korea. He won in 1985 the first prize in the prestigious 6th Robert Casadesus International Piano Competition (presently, the Cleveland Competition). In 1986, Professor Kim made his New York debut and received an exceptionally favorable review from the critic for the New York Times who wrote that "Daejin Kim demonstrated all the accouterments necessary for a successful solo career”. Since then, he has performed in recital and with orchestra in major cities throughout the United States, Europe and Asia.

In 1994, Prof. Kim family moved to Korea and since then he has become a prime example of that rare individual who is able to successfully combine both the demanding careers of a concert artist and the most productive teacher. His master classes have drawn international recognition and at the same time, he has been able to maintain a full schedule of performances such as a historic one-day performance of the complete Beethoven's Piano Concertos(2001) and the complete cycle of the Mozart Piano Concertos(2002-2004).  Recently, he has appeared as a soloist with the Rundfunk Sinfonieorchestra, Berlin, the RTE National Orchestra in Dublin, and the Sapporo Symphony Orchestra at the Suntory Hall in Japan. His recent discography includes 2 Piano Concertos by Mozart(K.488 & K.453) which he conducted the Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra from the keyboard(Sony Label).

In 2002, he received 'the Professor of the Year' Award by the Music Association of Korea, and most recently, received a decoration for ‘the Artist of the Year’ by the Ministry of Culture, Sports & Culture in Korea in 2006.

Prof. Kim has been on jury member for the Clara Haskil International Competition, the Cleveland International Piano Competition, the Ettlingen International Piano Competition, and the PTNA Competition, the Sendai International Competition in Japan and Paderewski International Piano Competition, the Rachmaninov International Piano Competition in Moscow, and among others.

His students have earned the prizes in the major international competitions including the Rubinstein, the Busoni, the Viotti, the Ettlingen, the Oberlin, the Cleveland, and the Sendai(Japan). Recently, his student at the Korean National University of Arts has won the first prize at the 2005 Clara Haskil International Piano Competition and the first prize at the Leeds International Competition in 2006.

Daejin Kim earned a Bachelor's, a Master's, and a Doctoral degree from the Juilliard School where he studied with Martin Canin.  Prof. Kim has been a member of the associate faculty at the Manhattan School of  Music and has taught at Yale University as a Woodward Fellow. He is currently Professor at the Korean National University of Arts and the Music Director of the Kumho Chamber Music Society

After close collaboration with the Suwon Philharmonic Orchestra as soloist and conductor for many years, he took the position of its conductor and Music Director in 2008.

Sunwook Kim, pianist

19 year-old Sunwook Kim came to international recognition when he won the prestigious Leeds International Piano Competition in 2006. The competition’s youngest winner for 40 years, as well as its first Asian winner, his performance for the finals of Brahms’s Concerto No.1 with Mark Elder attracted unanimous praise from the press, and led to concerto engagements with some of the UK’s finest orchestras as well as recitals throughout Europe.

Born in Seoul, Korea, in 1988, Sunwook Kim began the piano at the age of 3. He gave his debut recital aged just 10 at the Kumho Prodigy Series in Seoul, and this was followed by his concerto debut two years later. Since then he has been a regular guest of Korea’s finest orchestras, including the Seoul Philharmonic and the KBS Symphony, both at home and on tour internationally.

Over the past season he has appeared with the London Philharmonic (Vassily Sinaisky), Hallé Orchestra (Mark Elder), BBC National Orchestra of Wales (Tadaaki Otaka), as well as tours in Korea with the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France (Myung-Whun Chung), Budapest Festival Orchestra (Ivan Fischer) and the BBC Philharmonic (Gianandrea Noseda).

Highlights among recital appearances include the Beethovenfest Bonn, Klavier-Festival Ruhr and Mecklenburg-Vorpommern Festspiele in Germany, the Aspen Music Festival in the USA, the Duszniki Zdrój International Chopin Festival in Poland as well as the Tongyeong International Music Festival and Kumho Rising Stars Series in Korea.

Sunwook Kim’s forthcoming engagements include debut recitals in Paris, Brussels, London, Vancouver and New York, as well as concertos with the Royal Scottish National Orchestra, Opera North, Lausanne Chamber Orchestra and the Seoul Philharmonic.

Sunwook Kim graduated from the Korean National University of Arts in February 2008, where he has been a student of Daejin Kim since 1999. Besides Leeds, international awards include the first prize at the 2004 Ettlingen Competition (Germany) and the 2005 Clara Haskil Competition (Switzerland). In Korea he was the first winner of the Daewon Artist of the Year Award (2005) and also received the Kumho Musician of the Year Award (2007).