Min Kwon - Background

Background

Min Kwon began playing the piano at the age of three under the tutelage of her mother. She also studied violin and cello, and received the Music Award from the Korean Department of Education at the age of 12, making her debut as piano soloist with the Korean Symphony in Mendelssohn's Concerto No. 1, and performing Saint-Saëns Concerto No. 2 with the nationally televised Seoul Philharmonic. At the age of 14, she received a full scholarship to study at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia, and made her North American debut with the Philadelphia Orchestra at the age of 16, performing the Prokofiev Concerto No. 3. While at Curtis, she studied with Eleanor Sokoloff and Leon Fleisher, and participated in the master classes of such artists as Richard Goode and Murray Perahia. After earning her Bachelor of Music degree at the age of 19, Min Kwon continued her studies at The Juilliard School with Martin Canin. She received MM and DMA degrees from Juilliard, and completed post-doctoral studies in Austria with Hanz Leygraf. As the winner of the Beethoven Competition, she made her New York debut in 1992 with the Juilliard Orchestra at the Avery Fisher Hall of Lincoln Center under Stanisław Skrowaczewski, performing Beethoven's Concerto No. 4. Other noted concerto collaborations include conductors such as James Conlon, Alan Gilbert, and Vaktang Jiordania. She made tours of South America with Orquesta Estaudo Mexico and Orquesta Sinforinca Venezuela, and appeared with all the major orchestras in Korea. Winner: Juilliard's Gina Bachauer International Piano Award (1995), the Kingsville International Competition, Van Cliburn Institute Competition, prizes: Jaen Int'l, Scottish Int'l, Dong-A Int'l, and Calabria Int'l; First Prize, New York Keyboard Institute and Festival Dorothy McKenzie Artist Awards; Grand Prize, Korea KBS Emerging Artists Awards.