“A kind of superhuman éclat that can easily remind you of Hoffmann or Lhevinne in its supremely clear, neat and even brilliance.”
—New York Concert Review
A leading international artist, Yeol Eum Son has excited our patrons in her two previous San Jose appearances. She is highly regarded as a brilliant virtuoso whose playing has a rare balance between enormous kinetic energy and substantial gravity.
Yeol Eum performs a widely eclectic and rich repertoire—ranging from Bach and Mozart to German and Russians Romantics, and the twentieth century music of Gershwin, Szymanowski, Ligeti, and Salonen. She performs as a soloist and with the world’s leading orchestras. Yeol Eum placed second at the 2011 International Tchaikovsky Competition and the 13th Van Cliburn International Piano Competition.
Her discography includes the music of early 20th century composers Berg, Prokofiev, Stravinsky, and Ravel, as well as recordings of the complete Chopin Etudes, Chopin Nocturnes for Piano and Strings, Schumann’s Fantasy in C, Kreisleriana, and Arabesque, and a new all-Kapustin release—marking a year since the composer’s death.
Yeol Eum studied with Arie Vardi at the Hochschule für Musik Theater und Medien Hannover, and she holds a degree from the Korean National University of Arts. In 2018, she was appointed Artistic Director of the PyeongChang Music Festival & School. She is an honorary ambassador of the Seoul Arts Center and her home city of Wonju.
