Min Kwon is a Korean-American pianist and Professor of Music at Mason Gross School of the Arts, Rutgers University in New Jersey. Previously, she also taught piano minor and chamber music at The Juilliard School in New York.

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

Eleanor Sokoloff

Eleanor Sokoloff is an American pianist and famous pedagogue of piano. She is now in her eighth decade of teaching on the faculty of the Curtis Institute of Music....

 and Leon Fleisher

Leon Fleisher

Leon Fleisher is an American pianist and conductor.-Early life and studies:Fleisher was born in San Francisco, where he started studying the piano at age four...

, and participated in the master classes of such artists as Richard Goode

Richard Goode

Richard Goode is an American classical pianist, especially known for his interpretations of Ludwig van Beethoven and chamber music.Goode was born in East Bronx, New York...

 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

James Conlon

James Conlon is an American conductor and the current Music Director of the Los Angeles Opera.-Early years:Conlon grew up in a family of five children on Cherry Street in Douglaston, Queens, New York. His mother, Angeline L. Conlon, was a freelance writer. His father was an assistant to the New...

, Alan Gilbert

Alan Gilbert

Alan David Gilbert AO, was a historian and academic administrator who was until June 2010 the President and Vice-Chancellor of the University of Manchester....

, 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

Gina Bachauer

Gina Bachauer , was a Greek classical pianist who toured extensively in the United States and Europe....

 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.

Performances and critical acclaim

Min Kwon has given solo and chamber recitals in Seoul, Singapore, Sydney, and to a sold out audience in New York's Carnegie Weill Recital Hall, as well as performed on numerous international stages, including the Colmar Festival in France, in Germany, Estonia, Norway, Malaysia, Curaçao, and Switzerland. Following her 2006 Carnegie Hall recital, the New York Concert Review wrote, "...sonic thunder and pianistic lightning… Min allowed for both simplicity and opulence and the results were gratifying." Her recital in Manila, Philippines, was praised in the Philippine Inquirer as "a ravishingly beautiful and powerful performance forging a special bond with the audience." Her performance of Olivier Messiaen Vingt Regards L'enfant Jesus on BBC TV prompted the critic of The Herald to write, "Very impressive, astonishingly gifted." Recent concerto engagements: Wiener Residenz Orchester, Vienna (Mozart K. 488), New York Sinfonietta (Haydn D), Manhattan Chamber Orchestra (Bach BWV 1516), Bucharest Philharmonic in Italy (Mozart K. 271), Daejun Philharmonic (Asian Premiere of Paul Schonfield's Four Parables for Piano).

Min Kwon, together with her sister, violinist Yoon Kwon, were the first Koreans to record (in RCA's 100 year history) for Red Seal in 1995. Between 1994 and 2000, the duo has performed extensively under the (Columbia Artist Management Inc.) Community Concerts and IMG Artists Management. In addition to the duo album, Min has recorded solo piano works featured in You and Me and Concerto Extravaganza. Featuring the music of Schubert and Liszt

Liszt

Liszt is a Hungarian surname. Notable persons with that surname include:* Franz Liszt , Hungarian composer and pianist* Adam Liszt , father of Franz Liszt* Anna Liszt , mother of Franz Liszt...

, her newest album was released in 2008 by MSR Classics, a collaboration with Grammy Award-winning producer, David Frost

David Frost

Sir David Frost is a British broadcaster.David Frost may also refer to:*David Frost , South African golfer*David Frost , classical record producer*David Frost *Dave Frost, baseball pitcher...

.

Teaching

Min Kwon is in great demand around the world as a gifted and inspiring teacher. Her students have been accepted to many major conservatories, including Juilliard, Manhattan, Mannes, Peabody, Eastman, and New England, as well as truimphed in numerous competitions. Dr. Kwon often showcases her students at festivals where she is invited to teach, which have included the Kuhmo International Chamber Music Festival in Finland, AMEROPA International Chamber Music Festival in the Czech Republic, and the Altenburg MozartFest in Austria. She has conducted master classes at Shanghai Conservatory, Beijing Central Conservatory, Hong Kong Academy of Fine Arts, Hong Kong University, Yong Siew Toh Conservatory of Singapore, and the Vladimir Feltsman PianoFest in SUNY New Paltz, New York, as well as served as a guest professor at London Royal College of Music and the International Keyboard Institute in Korea.

Other Notables

Min, with her sister, Yoon, modeled for a Pantene Shampoo TV commercial in 2001. She was also seen on the Hour of Power with Robert Schuller, and was featured as the cover story "Maestro on Mediterranean" of Virtuoso Magazine. Since 1996, Min Kwon is also the highest rated classical artist onboard Crystal Cruises, a 6-star award-winning cruise line, and was twice named their Classical Artist of the Year (2002 and 2005). Min Kwon has traveled to 62 countries.

Min has also contributed exclusive articles in Korean music publications, most notably Piano Music, in which she interviewed such pianists as Kristjan Zimmerman, Yevgeny Kissin, Leif Ove Andsnes

Leif Ove Andsnes

Leif Ove Andsnes is a Norwegian pianist and an ardent champion of the works of Edvard Grieg.-Biography:He studied with Jiří Hlinka at the Bergen Music Conservatory and made his debut in Oslo in 1987, in Britain at the Edinburgh Festival with the Oslo Philharmonic in 1989, and in the United States...

, Mitsuko Uchida

Mitsuko Uchida

, born 20 December 1948, is a Japanese naturalized British classical pianist.-Career:Born in Atami, a seaside town close to Tokyo, Japan, Uchida moved to Vienna, Austria, with her diplomat parents when she was twelve years old, after her father was named the Japanese ambassador to Austria...

, Murray Perhaia, and Pierre Laurent Aimard.

She is married and lives in New York City with her husband, Dr. Leonard Lee, a cardiothoracic surgeon.

Discography

1996 Yoon Kwon, Min Kwon / Min Kwon (works by Part, Brahms, de Falla, Gershwin, Kreisler)

2000 You and Me, Yoon and Min (works by Chopin, Rachmaninoff, Copland, Schonfield)

2005 Concerto Extravaganza (works by Bach, Mozart, Beethoven, Mendelssohn, Chopin, Grieg, Rachmaninoff)

2008 Schubert and Liszt (Schubert Sonata D 850, Schubert/Liszt Gretchen am Spinnrade, Liszt Gnomenreigen, Reminiscence de Don Juan)

External links

• http://www.minkwon.com
• http://www.masongross.rutgers.edu/music/faculty/min-kwon