Pianist Cho Sung-jin becomes first Korean to win Chopin Concours

Pianist Cho Sung-jin becomes first Korean to win Chopin Concours. October. 22, 2015 08:31. suhchoi@donga.com.

Pianist Cho Sung-jin (21), who became the first Korean to win the grand prize at the International Chopin Piano Competition on Wednesday, was considered the most promising contender due to his overwhelming skills from the moment that he advanced to the final round.

“I can hardly believe that I am having this moment,” Cho told the British newspaper Daily Mail after winning the prize. “It was tough throughout the course of the entire competition, but I did not feel too nervous at the final competition in which I jointly performed with an orchestra.” “When I was 11 years old, I made up my mind that I would play at the final round of the Chopin competition, and I have realized my dream," Cho said at an interview with the Frederic Chopin association before announcement of review results.

The International Chopin Piano Competition, which started in 1927, is considered one of the world’s three major competitions along with the International Tchaikovsky Competition, and the Queen Elisabeth International Music Competition of Belgium. The event takes place every five years in Warsaw, the composer’s hometown, and young music performers between ages 16 to 30 compete with each other to win prizes only by playing Chopin’s music.

After starting playing the piano at age six, Cho studied under Shin Soo-jeong, pianist and honorary professor of Seoul National University, and Park Sook-ryeon, professor of Suncheon National University.

After making his debut through the Kumho Prodigy Concert at age 11 in 2005, Cho became the youngest player to win the International Piano Competition Chopin for the Youngest in 2008, and the youngest player to win the Hamamatsu International Piano Competition in 2009, ranked third at the Tchaikovsky competition in 2011, and third at the Arthur Rubinstein International Piano Master Competition in 2014, drawing attention from around the world.

After graduating from Yewon School and Seoul Arts High School in Korea, he has been studying under Michel Béroff at National Higher Conservatory of Music and Dance in Paris, France since 2012.

When he visited Korea to serve on the panel at the Seoul International Music Competition in 2014, Béroff said of Cho, “He is a performer with strong curiosity and concentration. What is more amazing is that his entire body is filled with music. He expresses all different music in his own ways.”

“As I watched his performance through the Internet, I found that his music has matured and come close to perfection," Professor Shin Soo-jeong said. "Cho is highly talented, but he has apparently exerted unwavering efforts over the years as well. When young, he was the kind of student who was completely oblivious of the word ‘difficult’ in his brain.”

“I taught him since when he was a third grader. Cho won the grand prizes at all different competitions, but he was never complacent or arrogant,” Professor Park Sook-ryeon said. “After entering middle school, he established his own world of music. I had nothing to teach in terms of skills, and we would exchange views on interpretation of music and approaches.”

Cho was named one of the “100 Koreans who will shine and out in 2020” by The Dong-A Ilbo in 2010. Jang Han-nah was also one of them from the classical music community.