Kun-Woo Paik facts for kids

Kun-Woo Paik
Kun-Woo Paik (2014)
Quick facts for kids Korean name
Hangul	백건우
Hanja	白建宇
Revised Romanization	Baek Geonu
McCune–Reischauer	Paek Kŏnu

Kun-Woo Paik (Hangul: 백건우) is a famous South Korean pianist. He was born on March 10, 1946, in Seoul. He has played with many top orchestras around the world. These include the London Symphony Orchestra and the BBC Symphony Orchestra.

Kun-Woo Paik's Early Life

Kun-Woo Paik grew up in Seoul, Korea. He started playing the piano at a very young age. When he was just 10 years old, he performed his first concert. He played Grieg's Piano Concerto with the Korean National Orchestra.

In the years that followed, he played many important musical pieces in Korea. He even performed some works for the first time in Korea, like Mussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition. Later, he moved to study music in other countries. He went to New York (Juilliard School), London, and Italy. He learned from famous teachers like Rosina Lhévinne and Wilhelm Kempff. Kun-Woo Paik also won awards from important piano competitions, such as the Naumburg and Busoni International Piano Competitions.

His Amazing Career as a Pianist

Over the years, Kun-Woo Paik has played solo concerts in many famous music halls. These include places like Lincoln Center and Carnegie Hall in New York, and Wigmore Hall in London. He has also performed with many great orchestras. Some of these are the London Symphony Orchestra, the Russian National Orchestra, and the Saint Petersburg Philharmonic. He has worked with well-known conductors like Mariss Jansons and Sir Neville Marriner.

Kun-Woo Paik often plays at big music events called festivals. Some of these are the Berlin Festwochen and La Roque-d'Anthéron. He has also traveled a lot, performing in Australia, New Zealand, Asia, and Italy.

His collection of music, called his repertoire, includes some rare pieces. For example, he plays Busoni's Piano Concerto. He also performs many pieces that were originally for other instruments but were rewritten for piano. A composer named Suk-Hi Kang even wrote a piano concerto especially for him.

Kun-Woo Paik's Recordings

Kun-Woo Paik has made many recordings of his music. He recorded all of Prokofiev's piano concertos. He also recorded all of Rachmaninoff's piano concertos. He has released solo albums featuring music by composers like Scriabin, Liszt, and Mendelssohn.

In 2000, he started recording exclusively with Decca Classics. His first album with them featured piano versions of organ music by J. S. Bach. Between 2005 and 2007, Decca recorded him playing all of Beethoven's piano sonatas.

Directing Music Festivals

For 21 years, from 1993 to 2014, Kun-Woo Paik was the Artistic Director of the Emerald Coast Music Festival. This festival took place in Dinard, France. He planned a wide variety of music for the festival. This included music from different time periods, like baroque and modern music. Top international artists performed for large audiences. The festival also had free outdoor concerts, special concerts for children, and shows featuring talented young musicians. In 2014, he left his role as director, which made him very sad.

In 2000, the French Government honored him. They made him a "Chevalier de l'ordre des arts et des lettres." Also in 2000, he was the first Korean artist to be officially invited to perform in China.

Kun-Woo Paik's Personal Life

Kun-Woo Paik lives in Paris with his wife, Yoon Jeong-hee. She is a famous actress from the 1960s. They have been married since 1974. They have a daughter named Paik Jin-hi, who is a violinist.

What He Recorded

• 2020 Schumann - DG
• 2018 Chopin: The Complete Nocturnes - DG
• 2012 Brahms Intermezzi - DG
• 2010 Brahms Piano Concerto No.1, Variations; Czech Philharmonic Orchestra - DG
• 2008 The complete piano sonatas of Beethoven issued in Korea.
• 2007 Beethoven: Piano Sonatas 27 to 32 - Decca
• 2006 Beethoven: Piano Sonatas 1 to 15 - Decca
• 2005 Beethoven: Piano Sonatas 16 to 26 - Decca
• 2003 Chopin: Complete works for piano and orchestra; Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra - Decca
• 2002 Fauré Piano works - Diapason d'Or award - Decca
• 2001 Hahn Works for two pianos, with Hüseyin Sermet - Naïve V4902
• 2000 J.S. Bach: Piano works in transcriptions by Busoni - Decca
• 2000 Piano works by Liszt, Debussy, Poulenc and Satie - EMI Music
• 1998 Rachmaninoff: Complete Works for Piano and Orchestra
• 1998 Mendelssohn: Songs Without Words
• 1996 Scriabin: Piano works
• 1994 Prokofiev: Complete Piano Concertos
• 1993 Schmitt: Three rhapsodies for two pianos, Op. 53, with Huseyin Sermet - Auvidis
• 1992 Mendelssohn: Songs Without Words - Diapason d'Or award - Dante
• 1992 Rachmaninoff: The 4 piano concertos, Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini - RCA
• 1992 Rachmaninoff: Piano sonatas 1 and 2 - Diapason d'Or award - Dante
• 1992 Prokofiev: Piano Sonatas 6, 7 and 8 - Diapason d'Or award - Dante
• 1992 Ravel: Complete Piano Works
• 1992 Scriabin: Piano works Diapason d'Or award - Dante
• 1992 Scriabin: Sonata Nos 6 and 9 and other piano works - Diapason d'Or award - Dante
• 1991 Prokofiev: The 5 Piano concertos; Polish National Radio Orchestra - Naxos
• 1991 Liszt: Piano works and music by French composers (Poulenc, Debussy, Satie) - Virgin
• 1991 Ravel: The works for solo piano - Diapason d'Or award - Dante
• 1983 Ravel: Piano Concerto in G, Concerto for Left Hand; Stuttgart Radio Symphony - Pro Arte Sinfonia

Awards and Honors

• 1971 Winner of Naumburg International Piano Competition
• 1992 Golden Diapason Prize (for his Alexander Scriabin Album)
• 1993 Golden Diapason Prize (for his Sergei Prokofiev Album)
• 2000 Ho-Am Prize in the Arts
• 2009 Kyung-Ahm Prize
• 2010 Order of Cultural Merit

See also

In Spanish: Kun-Woo Paik para niños