Minsoo Sohn,  pianist Minsoo Sohn is "an artist, a man who will create a life in music, find listeners, and reward them", describes The Boston Globe. Known as a pianist with poetic fire and comprehensive versatility, Sohn is widely gathering praises from critics and audiences alike for his masterful virtuosity and artistic expression, creating performances rich in deep emotion and musical intelligence. Following his New York debut recital at the Carnegie Hall, New York Concert Review wrote “Sohn is a pianistic phenomenon and musical enigma….. surmounted every imaginable and some unimaginable instrumental challenges with breath-taking ease, his affinity for the style -its phrasing, melodic contours, confident virtuosity- was complete.” In October 2006, Minsoo Sohn became the First Laureate of the Calgary’s Honens International Piano Competition. His characteristically unconventional approach that included Bach’s Goldberg Variations and Beethoven’s Diabelli Variations clearly resonating with audiences and the Jury, he was hailed as ‘genuine artist with unbelievable technical prowess and versatility’ by The Globe and Mail. He also won multiple prizes at the major international competitions during his time of study at the New England Conservatory, such as the Silver medal at the Cleveland, First prize at the Hilton Head, Third prize and Busoni prize at the Busoni, Fifth and the Audience prize at the Rubinstein, as well as Laureate prizes at the Queen Elizabeth and the Santander Competitions. Since his triumph at the Honens, Minsoo Sohn has toured extensively throughout North America, Europe and Israel at the important venues including Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall, Toronto’s Glenn Gould Studio and St. Lawrence Centre for the Arts, Boston's Jordan Hall, Gardner Museum and for the Harvard Musical Association, Calgary’s Arrata Opera Centre and Rosza Center, Ottawa’s National Arts Centre, Winnipeg’s Eckhardt-Gramatte Hall, Chicago’s Cultural Center, Cleveland’s Severance Hall, San Francisco's Herbst Theatre, Spain's Palacio Festivalle de Cantabria, Italy's Academia Cusano and Monteverdi Hall, Israel’s Tel Aviv Museum of Art and Mann Auditorium, Brussel's Palais des Beaux Art and Theatre Royal de la Monnaie and Munich's Gasteig. He has also appeared at New Hampshire's Monadnock Festival, Spain's Santander Festival, Israel's Eilat Festival, Canada's Ottawa International Chamber Music Festival, Colors of Music festival and Tuckamore Festival. Minsoo Sohn has collaborated with leading conductors such as Gilbert Varga, Keith Lockhart, Yannick Nézet-Séguin, Jane Glover, Yoav Talmi, Mendi Rodan, Goerges Octors, Jahja Ling, David Hoose, Roy Goodman, Avner Biron and has performed with orchestras including Boston Symphony, Boston Pops, Calgary Philharmonic, Edmonton Symphony Orchestra, Orchestre Symphonique de Québec, Israel Philharmonic, Jerusalem Camerata, Holland Symfonia, National Orchestra of Belgium, Cleveland Chamber Orchestra, New Hampshire Symphony and Tallahassee Symphony Orchestras among others. In January 2010, he collaborated with Mark Morris Dance Group alongside Russell Sherman and Orchestra of Emmanuel Music in the Boston premiere of “Mozart Dances”. An avid chamber musician, Mr. Sohn has performed with Aviv Quartet, Cecilia Quartet and Ysaÿe Quartet, Israel Camerata Woodwind Quintet and Gryphon Trio. His performance of Goldberg Variations has been broadcast numerous times on CBC -including live broadcast of the Glenn Gould 75th birthday commemoration concert- and across the United States on NPR’s performance today. He made guest appearances in number of other radio stations, including WFMT(Chicago), WGBH “Classical Performance”(Boston), The New Classical 96.3FM “Live from the Concert Lobby”(Toronto) and CBC “Live on Studio Sparks”(Ottawa). His performance with Boston Symphony “Salute to Symphony” concert was broadcast on CBS and A&E Channel. His performance at the Honens Competition was featured on channel Bravo! Canada. His debut recording, Liszt transcriptions and Etudes, released in the fall of 2008 “brings an elegant intensity while tossing off fearsome technical challenges without breaking stride” wrote Toronto Star, which gave it four out of four stars. He will be recording Bach’s Goldberg Variations in the spring of 2010. Sohn was born in Korea and began piano studies at age three. One of his earliest inspirations was Bach’s Sonatas and Partitas for violin. While violin first captured his attention, he grew to respect Piano’s endless potentialities and range. Before coming to the States, he won numerous national competitions including JungAng, Donga, Chopin and the Korean Music Association competitions. Sohn moved to Boston to study with Russell Sherman and Wha Kyung Byun at the New England Conservatory where his study extended from his freshman year to the Conservatory’s most prestigious degree, Artist Diploma in 2004. (March, 2010)   CDs by Mr. Minsoo Sohn are available for sale This concert is being recorded live by Foundation for Chinese Performing Arts Unauthorized use of cameras and tape recorders is not allowed in Jordan Hall. Please switch off cellular phones, pagers, and watch alarms before the concert.

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中華表演藝術基金會 Foundation for Chinese Performing Arts Lincoln, Massachusetts