Yeol Eum Son (; born May 2, 1986) is a South Korean classical pianist. She is an interpreter of the classical period of composers, especially Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, as well as such later composers as Mendelssohn, Schumann, Liszt, Rachmaninoff and Ravel. Son has attained international recognition for her performances of Mozart's piano concertos and sonatas.
Son is an internationally recognized concert pianist with major orchestras, performing as soloist with the New York Philharmonic Orchestra, the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra, the London Symphony Orchestra, the BBC Symphony Orchestra, the London Philharmonic Orchestra, the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields, and with such conductors as Lorin Maazel, Sir Neville Marriner, Valery Gergiev, Sir Antonio Pappano, Edward Gardner, Sakari Oramo and Jaap van Zweden. She performs recitals at Carnegie Hall in New York City, US, at Wigmore Hall in London, UK and at the Edinburgh International Festival in UK.
Education Son was born in Wonju, South Korea.
Son took her first piano lesson at the age of three and a half. She made a recital debut on Kumho Prodigy Concert Series in July 1998. At the age of twelve, she started studying with pianist Kim Dae-jin. At age sixteen, she entered the Korea National University of Arts to continue her piano studies. At the age of 18, she recorded the complete Chopin Etudes (Op. 10 and Op. 25) for a CD on the Universal Music Label.
In 2006, she began studying with Arie Vardi at the Hochschule für Musik und Theatre, in Hannover, Germany, where she currently resides.
Career Competitions Son was awarded the Silver Medal at the International Tchaikovsky Competition in 2011. At the Tchaikovsky Competition she also received the prizes for Best Chamber Concerto Performance and the Best Performance of the Commissioned Work. The video of her performance of the Mozart Piano Concerto No. 21 at the Tchaikovsky Competition has received an estimated 31 million online views.
She had earlier won the Silver Medal at the Thirteenth Van Cliburn International Piano Competition in 2009. In that same competition, she won the Steven De Groote Memorial Award for the Best Performance of Chamber Music.
Son had also won the Bronze Medal at the Arthur Rubinstein International Piano Master Competition (2005).
Performances
Son first drew international attention in October 2004 at age 18 when she appeared as soloist performing Liszt Piano Concerto No. 1 with the New York Philharmonic Orchestra under the baton of Lorin Maazel on their Asia tour in Seoul, Daejeon, and Tokyo. Son again performed with Maazel and the New York Philharmonic when they returned to the Seoul Arts Center in February 2008, this time as soloist for Beethoven Piano Concerto No. 2.
In 2019, Son made her debut at the BBC Proms festival at the Royal Albert Hall performing the Mozart Piano Concerto No.15 with the BBC Philharmonic conducted by Omer Meir Wellber.7 pianists to look out for at the BBC Proms 2019. https://www.pianistmagazine.com/news/7-pianists-to-look-out-for-at-the-bbc-proms-2019/
In September 2021, Son performed the Beethoven Emperor Concerto with conductor Pietari Inkinen and the Deutsche Radio Philharmonie Saarbrücken Kaiserslautern.Yeol eum son's Beethoven Piano Concerto NO.5. with Pietari Inkinen & Deutsche Radio Philharmonie
In November 2022, Son performed the Beethoven Piano Concerto No. 4 with the NDR Radiophilharmonie conducted by Andrew Manze, Beethovens "Eroica" und Klavierkonzert Nr. 4 | NDR Radiophilharmonie. https://www.ndr.de/fernsehen/Beethoven-Eroica-Klavierkonzert-Nr-4-Yeol-Eum-Son,beethoven678.html later broadcast worldwide on the BBC Radio 3 network.Yeol Eum Son plays Beethoven. https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m001mv5t
On October 28, 2023, Son performed Liszt's Totentanz with the London Symphony Orchestra conducted by Sir Antonio Pappano."Sir Antonio Pappano: Kendall, Liszt and Strauss (Alicante) | London Symphony Orchestra". londonsymphonyorchestra."LONDON SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA. YEOL EUM SON, PIANO / ANTONIO PAPPANO, DIRECTOR". ADDA (in European Spanish).
From April 25 to 27, 2025 she performed the Mozart Piano Concerto No. 24 with the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Ryan Bancroft.Conductor Ryan Bancroft Continues to Work Wonders With the LA Phil. Richard S. Ginell. April 29, 2025. https://www.sfcv.org/articles/review/conductor-ryan-bancroft-continues-work-wonders-la-phil
On May 16, 2025 Son performed the Mozart Piano Concerto No. 22 in Toronto with the National Arts Centre Orchestra conducted by Alexander Shelley at Roy Thomson Hall as part of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra regular season series.Shelley & Yeol Eum Son (Toronto). https://nac-cna.ca/en/event/37132 Son toured South Korea with the orchestra in late May in celebration of the 60th anniversary of the South Korean Embassy in Ottawa and the Korea-Canada Year of Cultural Exchanges (2024–2025).Canada and the Republic of Korea prepare for the Year of Cultural Exchanges 2024–2025. https://www.canada.ca/en/canadian-heritage/news/2024/06/canada-and-the-republic-of-korea-prepare-for-the-year-of-cultural-exchanges-20242025.html
Son performed the Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto No. 1 with the London Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Edward Gardner on September 28, 2025, at Saffron Hall in Saffron Walden, UK. She then performed with the London Philharmonic and Edward Gardner on tour in South Korea for four concerts in October.Edward Gardner & London Philharmonic Orchestra. https://www.sac.or.kr/site/eng/show/show_view?SN=67430
On March 13, 2026, Son performed the Bartók Piano Concerto No. 3 and the Eclogue for Piano and String Orchestra by Gerald Finzi with the BBC Symphony Orchestra at Barbican Hall conducted by Sakari Oramo, broadcast live on the BBC television network.Yeol Eum Son plays Bartók’s Third Piano Concerto BBC Symphony Orchestra / Sakari Oramo. https://www.barbican.org.uk/whats-on/2026/event/yeol-eum-son-plays-bartoks-third-piano-concerto
On August 13, 2026, Son returned to the BBC Proms festival, performing the Gershwin Piano Concerto in F with James Gaffigan conducting the BBC Symphony Orchestra in the Royal Albert Hall in London, UK.BBC Proms 2026 – BBC Symphony Orchestra – James Gaffigan conducts Wynton Marsalis & Samuel Barber, with Yeol Eum Son playing George Gershwin’s Concerto in F. https://www.colinscolumn.com/bbc-proms-2026-bbc-symphony-orchestra-james-gaffigan-conducts-wynton-marsalis-samuel-barber-with-yeol-eum-son-playing-george-gershwins-concerto-in-f/Yeol Eum Son plays a thoughtful Gershwin Concerto in F. https://www.pianistmagazine.com/news/yeol-eum-son-plays-a-thoughtful-gershwin-concerto-in-f/ This performance was in celebration of the 250th anniversary of the United States Declaration of Independence.
Recordings Son's recording in 2016 of the Mozart Piano Concerto No. 21 with Sir Neville Marriner and the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields was Marriner's final recording,Yeol Eum Son: Mozart. Yeol Eum Son, Sir Neville Marriner. https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_n3-WNwSSPNGWuY2MNpjTZXdiyzWj2SndU and was selected by Classic FM and their Album of the Week.MOZART – YEOL EUM SON April 20, 2018, Soloist: Yeol Eum Son | Conductor: Sir Neville Marriner. https://www.asmf.org/recordings/mozart-yeol-eum-son/ Son composed her own cadenzas for this concerto. Marriner and Son had planned to record the complete Mozart concertos.Woo-hyun, Shim (April 17, 2018). "Pianist Son Yeol-eum pays homage to Marriner with her new album". The Korea Herald. The recording was released on the Onyx label on 4 May, 2018.MOZART – YEOL EUM SON April 20, 2018. https://www.asmf.org/recordings/mozart-yeol-eum-son/Mozart: Piano Concerto No. 21. https://www.kirshbaumassociates.com/agency.php?view=record&id=yeoleumson&rid=4622
In February 2023 Son's recordings of the complete Mozart Piano Sonatas were released on the Naive label, and named Classic FM Album of the Week.Yeol Eum Son - Mozart: Complete Piano Sonatas. https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLAsHav2CVXC6X3f8Bz-QYBSv5Low1LT62
In May 2025, Son's recording of the two Ravel piano concertos was released, the Piano Concerto in G major and the Left Hand Concerto in D major, with the Residentie Orchestra conducted by Anja Bihlmaier. They were described by one music reviewer as "fizzingly captured readings", the central Adagio movement of the G major "a perfect vehicle for Son's tonal purity" and the left-hand D major WWI-related work "is compellingly brought out...it feels almost programmatic."Classical Choices Playlist: Miguel Rincón, Merton College Choir & Yeol Eum Son. https://dcsaudio.com/edit/classical-choices-playlist-miguel-rincon-merton-college-choir-yeol-eum-son
On January 8, 2026, Son released recordings of the complete chamber music of Ravel.
Performing style Son has achieved global acclaim for her performances of Mozart's piano concertos and piano sonatas. She said that: "I love Mozart and Beethoven, but I need lots of control for them as I'm extremely exposed. I get much more nervous when I'm playing those composers on stage, too."
Other activities
Son was the artistic director of the Music in PyeongChang classical music festival from 2018 to 2022, where she was a frequent performer. From May 2010, she wrote a monthly column for JoongAng Sunday, the Sunday edition of JoongAng Ilbo newspaper. This was compiled as a book in 2015.
Honours On May 20, 2024, Son was awarded the Grand Prize of the 2024 Daewon Music Awards, recognizing achievement in the performing arts for classical music in South Korea.
Competition Awards 1997: 2nd Prize, International Tchaikovsky Competition for Young Musicians 1999: 1st Prize, Oberlin International Piano Competition 2001: 1st Prize, The 7th Ettlingen Piano Competition 2002: 1st Prize, 53rd Viotti International Music Competition 2005: 3rd Prize, Arthur Rubinstein International Piano Master Competition. Finalist, XV International Chopin Piano Competition 2008: 1st Prize, Piano Competition Kissinger Klavierolymp, related to the festival Kissinger Sommer 2009: Silver Medal and Steven De Groote Memorial Award for the Best Performance of Chamber Music (shared with Evgeni Bozhanov), Thirteenth Van Cliburn International Piano Competition 2011: 2nd Prize overall, Silver Medal, also winner Best Chamber Concerto (Mozart Concerto) Performance, winner Best Performance of the Commissioned Work (by Rodion Shchedrin) XIV International Tchaikovsky Competition
Discography 2004: "Chopin: 24 Etudes" (Universal Music) 2008: "Chopin: Nocturnes for Piano and Orchestra" (Universal Music) 2009: "13th Van Cliburn Competition: Yeol Eum Son, Silver Medalist" (Harmonia Mundi) 2012: "Yeol Eum Son, Piano" (O'new World Music) 2016: "Schumann & Brahms: Sonatas, Romances" (Decca Classics) 2016: "Modern Times: Berg, Prokofiev, Stravinsky, Ravel" (Decca Classics) 2018: "Mozart: Piano Concerto No.21 K467 / Sonata No.10 K330" (Onyx Classics) 2020: "Schumann: Fantasy in C – Kreisleriana – Arabesque" (Onyx Classics) 2021: "Kapustin" (Onyx Classics) 2023: "Mozart: Complete Piano Sonatas" (Naïve Records) 2024: "Love Music" (Naïve Records) 2025: "Ravel: Piano Concerto in G major and Concerto for the Left Hand" (Naïve Records)
References
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