Soyoung Choe (Age: 27)
Soyoung Choe is a professional pianist who values integrity and authenticity in her play. Born in Seoul, Korea on December 9, 1990, she began her musical training as a pianist at the age of three under her mother. She continued to study music as a teenager at Yewon School and Seoul Arts High School. Simultaneously, she participated in the pre-college program at Korea National University of Arts with Professor Choong-mo Kang for seven years until she began her undergraduate degree at New England Conservatory. For all four years she was in NEC, where she studied with Prof. Wha-Kyung Byun, Ms. Choe received Salon Scholarship. After graduating NEC, She also completed the Master's degree from the Juilliard School of Music as a recipient of Paul Jacobs Memorial and Richard R. Levien Scholarship under the guidance of Professor Choong-mo Kang and Jerome Lowenthal. She also earned the Professional Studies Certificate at Manhattan School of Music with the direction of Professor Phillip Kawin.
Ms. Choe debuted as a pianist at the Prodigy Concert at Kumho Art Hall in Seoul at age ten. Since then, she has won numerous competitions in Korea, Japan, and the U.S. including the first place in the Chopin Competition (Korea), second (without a first prize) in Beethoven Competition (Korea), and bronze award in the Asia Chopin Competition (Japan). While studying in the U.S., she won third prize at the California International Piano Competition and at the New Jersey Camerata Competition. Also, She was selected as the Jury Choice’s Award at the Paderewski International Competition in U.S. She won first prize at the Jacob Flier Competition and received 2nd prize in the Five Towns Competition and Manhattan International Competition. In 2017, Ms. Choe has won 2nd prize at the East Coast Competition and performed at Lincoln Center as part of the winners concert. Also, she received the special prize at the Vivo International Music Competition. In 2018, She received the Grand price, which is the first time that it has been awarded, and Best Ravel Performance Prize in the International Music Academy Competition in Italy.
In addition to her appearances in various concerts, Ms. Choe performed Chopin's piano concerto no.1 in e minor with the Kiev Radio Symphony Orchestra and was selected as a soloist in the Young Professional Artists Series at Kumho Art Hall. Her active engagement in performances at NEC was prolific. She performed at the 'Chopin in Paris' Concerts and the NEC's Lisztomania Concert. Ms. Choe won the Honors Competition in celebration of Debussy. Recently, she performed with the Torun Symphony Orchestra at Bydgoszcz, Poland. She was invited as a guest artist to Samik Art Hall in Seoul, Korea and she performed with the Hudson Valley Symphony Orchestra at McKenna Theater.
Ms. Choe further developed her career by participating many music festivals and Master classes across the continents, including the Euro Music Festivals in Prague and Leipzig, the International Music Festival in New York and the International Masterclass in Rome. Ms. Choe received full scholarships to the Master classes such as Paderewski Academy in Poland and the Mendelssohn Academy in Leipzig, where she attended as an NEC representative. In those Master classes, She worked with great pianists like Dang Thai Son, Yoheved Kaplinsky, Anatol Ugorski, Robert Macdonald, and Piotr Paleczny. During her participation, she appeared as a chamber pianist with Christian Tetzlaff, and Arnold Steinhardt.
Her passion to explore music extends to recording activities. In the summer of 2014, contracting with Infinity Corporation, she released a CD with a soft jazz style improvisations of various Hymns, titled 'Praying in Hymns'. This summer, she finished recording a complete series of Beyer, piano music for children, sponsored by Music Chunchu.
Ms. Choe starts Doctoral degree at Manhattan School of Music with Phillip Kawin.