YOO, YUNG-WOOK

Yung-Wook Yoo "seems to have all the gifts: lovely sound, unlimited technique, musicianship, all that it takes." Harold C. Schoenberg, American Record Guide, March-April 2001

Yung-Wook Yoo was born on the 27^th of December, 1977, in Seoul, Korea, where he began his musical studies.He gave his first recital when he was 10 years old in the Ye-eum Hall playing his own compositions. It was then that his exceptional talent was revealed, resulting in several grants towards his education and his later move to the United States. In 1991 he enrolled in the class of Katherine Parker, at Juilliard Pre-College, and continued his studies there with Professor Martin Canin. Yoo is presently studying at the Juilliard School under the tutelage of Professor Jerome Lowenthal.

Yung-Wook Yoo has won several national and international competitions -among them, the prestigious Kosciuszko Chopin Competition in the United States, and the Montreal International Music Competition. He has given recitals in Korea and has performed as soloist with many Korean orchestras including the Seoul Philharmonic. He has also been invited to play in Seoul in the Music Symposium for young gifted Korean musicians.

In August, 1998, Yoo won the Grand Prize and Gold Medal of the XIII Paloma O?Shea Santander International Piano Competition, which was granted by unanimous vote of the Jury. This prize involves important concert tours and recitals throughout the world. Amongst these concerts are festivals in Spain, Germany, France, Italy, Portugal and Japan. His commitments for year 2000 include debuts at Wigmore Hall in London and at 92^nd Street Y in New York; UNESCO Hall in Paris, Palau de la Musica and Auditori in Barcelona with the Orquestra Simfonica de Barcelona Nacional de Catalunya, conducted by Philippe Jordan, and Auditorio Nacional de Musica in Madrid with the Orquestra Nacional de Espana conducted by Rafael Fruhbeck de Burgos, his presentation in Berlin in the chamber music concert with the Russian chelist Natalia Gutman at the 2000 Berliner Begegnungen, the recital at the Zurich Tonhalle, as well as an extensive recital and concert tour throughout Latin America.

For Naxos, Yoo has released a disc (8.554839) in the ongoing Complete Piano Music of Franz Liszt series. In his review of that recording, music critic Harold C. Schoenberg has described Yoo as a "natural Liszt pianist, which means color and refinement as well as virtuosity."

February, 2002

Albums featuring this artist are available for download from ClassicsOnline.com
LISZT: Beethoven Song Transcriptions (Liszt Complete Piano Music, Vol. 16)	8.554839