Seong-Jin Cho has established himself as one of the most brilliant pianists of his generation and among the most important artists on the current musical scene. His interpretations, reflective and poetic, yet virtuosic and colorful, know how to combine brio and purity and are guided by a natural and incredible sense of harmony.
Seong-Jin Cho made his mark on the international music scene in 2015, when he won First Prize at the Warsaw International Chopin Competition. In January 2016, he signed an exclusive contract with the Deutsche Grammophon record label.
A highly sought-after artist, Seong-Jin Cho collaborates with the world's most prestigious orchestras, including the Berliner Philharmoniker, the Vienna Philharmonic, the London Symphony Orchestra, theOrchestre de Paris, the New York Philharmonic, and the Philadelphia Orchestra. Conductors with whom he regularly collaborates include Myung-Whun Chung, Gustavo Dudamel, Andris Nelsons, Yannick Nézet- Séguin, Gianandrea Noseda, Sir Simon Rattle, Santtu-Matias Rouvali, Esa-Pekka Salonen and Lahav Shani.
Highlights of the 2023/24 season for Seong-Jin Cho include his long-awaited Salzburg Festival debut with the Mozarteumorchester and Ivor Bolton, as well as his return to the BBC Proms in London with the Philharmonia Orchestra and Santtu-Matias Rouvali. He will also return to the Concertgebouworkest, the Los Angeles Philharmonic and the Boston Symphony Orchestra, for performances in Boston and Carnegie Hall; debuts with the Cleveland Orchestra, the San Francisco and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra are also planned. Much in demand as a soloist, Seong-Jin Cho has several international tours planned, for example, to Korea with the Berliner Philharmoniker and Kirill Petrenko; back to Korea and Japan with the Gewandhausorchester Leipzig and Andris Nelsons. In spring 2024 he will also perform in Europe with the National Symphony Orchestra in Washington and Gianandrea Noseda.
Very active in the field of recitals, Seong-Jin Cho regularly performs in prestigious halls such as Carnegie Hall, Amsterdam'sConcertgebouw, Berlin's Philharmonie, Vienna'sMusikverein and Konzerthaus, Munich's Prinzregententheater, London's Barbican Hall, Tokyo's Suntory Hall, and Los Angeles's Walt Disney Hall, or for festivals such as the Festival International de piano de la Roque d'Anthéron and the Verbier Festival. Solo piano recitals are planned for the new season in such halls as the Alte Oper Frankfurt, Théâtre des Champs-Élysées, KKL Luzern, Sala Santa Cecilia in Rome, Megaron in Athens, and Carnegie Hall.
Seong-Jin Cho's most recent recording is his solo album entitled "The Handel Project," released in February 2023; in August 2021, he released Chopin's 'Piano Concerto No. 2' and 'Scherzi' with the London Symphony Orchestra and Gianandrea Noseda, on the Deutsche Grammophon label. Previously, he recorded, again with the London orchestra and the same Conductor, his first CD with Chopin's 'Piano Concerto No. 1' and the four 'Ballades'. May 2020 saw the release of his solo album entitled "The Wanderer," which contains Schubert's Wanderer Fantasie, Berg's 'Piano Sonata Op. 1,' and Liszt's 'Sonata in B minor' for piano. A solo recital dedicated to Debussy was released in November 2017, followed in 2018 by an album focusing on Mozart, recorded together with the Chamber Orchestra of Europe and Yannick Nézet-Séguin. All recordings have been released on Deutsche Grammophon 's Yellow Label section and have received rave reviews worldwide.
Born in Seoul in 1994, Seong-Jin Cho began studying piano at the age of six, performing in recital for the first time at age eleven. In 2009 he became the youngest winner of theHammatsu International Piano Competition in Japan; in 2011, at age seventeen, he won Third Prize at the Moscow International Tchaikovsky Competition. From 2012 to 2015 he studied with Michel Béroff at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique in Paris. He currently resides in Berlin.