Korean pianist prodigy Sunwook Kim returns to Hong Kong for two concerts with Hong Kong Sinfonietta on 25 and 28 September: HKS Recital Series – Sunwook Kim Piano Recital and Great Piano Concertos – Sunwook Kim Plays Brahms.
Ahead of the concerts, Sunwook Kim shared with us his musical journey which started at a very young age, his enthusiasm to come back to Hong Kong and to collaborate again with Hong Kong Sinfonietta.
Born in 1988 in Seoul, South Korea, Kim began studying the piano at the age of 3. A prodigy, he gave his debut recital at 10 and his first concerto at 12. In 2006, at only 18, he won the prestigious Leeds International Piano Competition, becoming the competition’s youngest winner for 40 years, as well as its first Asian winner.
In South Korea, music has been playing a great part in children’s education since the 1990s. Thus, Kim was surrounded by classical music from a very young age. “When I was young, in the 1990s, music education in Korea was just beginning to flourish. It felt like a lot of cultural influences were coming in after the 1988 Seoul Olympic. Almost every household had a piano, and the local music academies were thriving with students. When I was a child, I wanted to become a conductor, and to do that, I learned both piano and violin. Of the two, the piano suited me better, so I continued with it,” Kim recounts.
For Kim, listening to classical music feels as natural as breathing, and the pianist considers that music and other forms of art are crucial to enrich our minds and allow us to enjoy a sense of mental leisure. “Whether or not you major in music, entering the infinite world of music is a great way to experience mental wealth. However, becoming a musician requires many sacrifices, which can be challenging. It’s a difficult profession to pursue unless you truly love and enjoy it. But if you do, it can lead to a rich life that material wealth alone cannot provide,” he explains.
Since winning the Leeds International Piano Competition, Kim has established a reputation as one of the greatest pianists of his generation, appearing as a concerto soloist in some of the world’s leading orchestras including the Berlin Philharmonic, London Symphony Orchestra, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Staatskapelle Dresden, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra, NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchester, Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen, Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Philharmonia Orchestra, London Philharmonic, Royal Scottish National Orchestra, BBC National Orchestra of Wales, Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, NHK Symphony Orchestra, The Hallé, City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra and the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra for his BBC Proms début in 2014.
Not only Kim masters the piano, but he also became a conductor. He completed a master’s degree in Conducting at the Royal Academy of Music and was subsequently made a fellow (FRAM) of the Royal Academy of Music in 2019. After making his international conducting debut with the KBS Symphony Orchestra in 2021, he conducted the Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra in their concert marking the 77th anniversary of Korea’s National Liberation Day in 2022.
According to Kim, listening is vital in classical music. Whether collaborating with an orchestra or playing chamber music, listening to others’ sounds and nuances is essential event if it doesn’t come easily.
“For example, the third movement of Brahms’ Piano Concerto No. 2 begins with a very beautiful cello solo. As I listen to the music the cello creates, my piano solo naturally changes to fit that. The orchestra then immediately responds to my solo, and in this way, a living, breathing performance is created. It is impossible to perform exactly as planned. Since music is an art confined by time, the charm of responding closely to each other’s sounds, breathing life into the performance, becomes even more vibrant when playing together,” Kim explains.
Presented by Hong Kong Sinfonietta, Kim will perform on 25 September in HKS Recital Series – Sunwook Kim Piano Recital, featuring three spellbinding works by Austro-German giants Haydn, Schumann and Schubert. He will open the recital with Haydn’s sparkling Piano Sonata in E-flat, before presenting Schumann’s Davidsbündlertänze – an intimate collection of 18 riveting character pieces juxtaposing voices of impetuousness and poeticism. Schubert’s extraordinary Piano Sonata in B-flat – the last piano work he ever completed – will conclude the evening.
In his second concert on 28 September, Great Piano Concertos – Sunwook Kim Plays Brahms, Kim will perform Brahms’ exquisite Piano Concerto No 2 with Hong Kong Sinfonietta and Music Director Christoph Poppen, concluding a concert where Maestro Poppen will first present the Asian première of Luigi Dallapiccola’s atmospheric Piccola Musica Notturna, and bring to the audience an authoritative interpretation of Schumann’s Symphony No 1, “Spring”, depicting the awakening of life and jovial merriment of springtime.
“Brahms’ Piano Concerto No. 2 is not only the most grandiose concerto in the piano repertoire but also contains many symphonic elements. As Brahms aged, he continually worked to strip away unnecessary elements to leave behind only what was truly important, and this essence shines particularly brightly in the third movement. It’s a powerful yet tender piece, full of expression without being explosive, and although it lacks humour, it is filled with a lovable beauty,” Kim explains with enthusiasm.
Kim is very keen to come back to Hong Kong after 8 years and to share the legacy left by great composers to the local audiences. He will playing under the baton of Christoph Poppen for the first time. “He is one of the warmest-hearted musicians I know, and his music is deeply inspiring,” Kim shares with admiration.
More details on the concerts can be found here:
HKS Recital Series – Sunwook Kim Piano Recital – 25 September at Hong Kong City Hall
Great Piano Concertos – Sunwook Kim Plays Brahms – 28 September at Hong Kong City Hall
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