Yeol Eum Son

Yeol Eum Son (; born May 2, 1986, in Wonju, South Korea) is a world renowned South Korean classical pianist. She is particularly esteemed as an expert interpreter of the Classical era of composers, especially Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, as well as such later composers as Mendelssohn, Liszt, Rachmaninoff and Ravel. Son regularly performs as soloist with prominent orchestras and the most eminent conductors. Education Son took her first piano lesson at the age of three and a half. She made a recital debut on Kumho Prodigy Concert Series in July 1998. At the age of twelve, she started studying with pianist Kim Dae-jin. At age sixteen, she entered the Korea National University of Arts to continue her piano studies. At the age of 18, she recorded the complete Chopin Etudes (Op. 10 and Op. 25) for a CD on the Universal Music Label. In 2006, she began studying with Arie Vardi at the Hochschule für Musik und Theatre, in Hannover, Germany, where she currently resides. Competitions Her awards include Silver Medals at both the Thirteenth Van Cliburn International Piano Competition in 2009 and the International Tchaikovsky Competition in 2011, where she also received the Best Chamber Concerto Performance and the Best Performance of the Commissioned Work prizes. She also won the Bronze Medal at the Arthur Rubinstein International Piano Master Competition (2005)