SunwookKim

Sunwook Kim came to international recognition when he won the prestigious Leeds International Piano Competition in 2006, aged just 18, becoming the competition’s youngest winner for 40 years, as well as its first Asian winner. His performance of Brahms’ Concerto No.1 with the Hallé Orchestra and Sir Mark Elder in the competition’s finals attracted unanimous praise from the press. Since then, he has established a reputation as one of the finest pianists of his generation, appearing as a concerto soloist in the subscription series of some of the world’s leading orchestras.

In the 2024/25 season, Sunwook continues his term as Music Director of the Gyeonggi Philharmonic Orchestra conducting works from Mozart and Beethoven to Strauss, Bartok and Unsuk Chin. Sunwook will also make his conducting debuts with the Iceland Symphony, Armenian National Philharmonic and Israel Philharmonic.

Play-directing from the piano, upcoming highlights include an extensive tour of Europe and Korea with the Chamber Orchestra of Europe, including concerts at Lotte Concert Hall, Berlin Philharmonie, Salle Philharmonique de Liege, Halle Aux Grains (Toulouse) and the Barbican, London. As soloist, Sunwook will also return to the subscription season of the Los Angeles Philharmonic (Stutzmann) and as part of the Seoul Festival curated by Unsuk Chin.

In recital, Sunwook will collaborate with Janine Jansen in a tour of Italy including performances in Venice, Milan, Cremona and Torino as well as to Dusseldorf and Lugano with an all-Brahms and Schumann programme.

Sunwook Kim’s debut recital disc was released on the Accentus label in October 2015, featuring Beethoven’s Waldstein and Hammerklavier sonatas, this was followed by a recording of Franck’s Prelude, choral et fugue paired with Brahms Sonata No.3. He has released further recordings of Beethoven’s Piano Sonatas: Sonata No.8 (Pathétique), No.14 (Moonlight) and No. 23 (Appassionata) as well as Sonatas Nos. 30-32. His most recent chamber music release features the Violin Sonatas of Beethoven in collaboration with Clara-Jumi Kang. His discography also includes multiple concerto recordings; on Accentus Music with the Staatskapelle Dresden conducted by Myung-Whun Chung featuring Brahms’ Piano Concerto No.1 and Six Piano Pieces (2020) in addition to recordings on Deutsche Grammophon with the Seoul Philharmonic conducted by Myung-Whun Chung, a CD featuring Unsuk Chin’s Piano Concerto (2014) and a CD featuring Beethoven's Concerto No.5 (2013). In 2023, the Berliner Philharmoniker released a new box of recordings of works by Unsuk Chin, highlighting their collaboration with the over the past 20 years. The Piano Concerto was performed by Sunwook, conducted by Sakari Oramo.