Pianist Yeol-Eum Son, who recently won the 3rd prize at the 11th Rubinstein International Competition 2005, has emerged as one of the most outstanding young pianists after her triumph at the 53rd Viotti International Competition in 2002. In 1997, she won the 2nd Prize in the 3rd Tchaikovsky International Competition for Young Musician in St. Petersburg, Russia. In 1999, as the youngest participant, she won the 1st Prize at the 3rd Oberlin International Piano Competition held in Ohio, U.S.A. In the following year, she has won the 1st prize at the world-renowned Ettlingen International Piano Competition held in Ettlingen, Germany. She was again the youngest pianist.
She concertized extensively as a soloist with the major orchestras in Korea including Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra, Bucheon Philharmonic Orchestra, Wonju Philharmonic Orchestra, Gwangju Philharmonic Orchestra, Ulsan Philharmonic Orchestra, Boston Longwood Chamber Orchestra, Baden Baden Symphony and Virtuosi di Kuhmo, as a recitalist, she appeared numerous concerts for domestic and foreign stages including the recitals presented by Chopin Society in Germany, Chinese Performing Arts, and Harvest Concert of Osaka.
As a soloist, she made an Asia tour concert with the New York Philharmonic Orchestra under the direction of Maestro Lorin Maazel in Seoul, Daejeon, and Tokyo in 2004. In 2005, she performed as a solo with Israel Philharmonic Orchestra in Tel-Aviv, NHK Symphony Orchestra(NHK Hall) and Tokyo Philharmonic in Tokyo(Tokyo Opera City Hall, Suntory Hall), Japan, Pusan Philharmonic Orchestra, Daejeon Philharmonic Orchestra, and Bucheon Philharmonic Orchestra, and gave recital at Kumho Art Hall and Seongnam Art Center(Opening Festival), and three days sequential recitals with programs of composers from German, France, and Russia in Chong-dong Art frontier series.
In 2006, she is scheduled to perform for Seoul Art Center 11 o’clock concert series, Mozart Piano Concerto Cycle with Daejeon Philharmonic Orchestra, Mozart Sonata Cycle recital, concert with Kansai Philharmonic Orchestra and Seoul Youth Philharmonic Orchestra.
Son is the laureate of grand prize winner of Korea Proud Juvenile Award awarded by Korean government and awarded New Artist of the Year by the music association of Korea in 2003. In Jan. 2005 she won the 1st ‘Kumho Musician of the Year’ rewarding and supporting a selected young musician with outstanding musical activities for the year and with great potential in the future.
She has already known well to the broad fans of classical music with her deep musicality, great scale and solid technique. She started her career as a musician appearing the Kumho Prodigy Concert Series, one of the programs to find and support young musicians run by Kumho Cultural Foundation under the leadership of the deceased Seong Yawng Park. She participated The Annual Music Festival (1995-2001) where she studied with professor, Yin Cheng Zong and in 2000, she studied at Ishikawa Music Festival.
In Oct. 2004, her debut album featuring complete Chopin Etudes was released by Universal Music. Currently she studies with professor Dae-Jin Kim at the Korean National University of Arts.
