Kyung Wha Chung facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Kyung Wha Chung
Background information
Born	(1948-03-26) 26 March 1948 (age 77) Seoul, South Korea
Occupation(s)	Violinist
Korean name
Hangul	정경화
Hanja	鄭京和
RR	Jeong Gyeonghwa
MR	Chŏng Kyŏnghwa

Kyung Wha Chung is a famous violinist from South Korea. She was born on March 26, 1948. She is known around the world for her amazing violin playing.

Early Life and Musical Start

Kyung Wha Chung grew up in Seoul, South Korea. She was one of seven children in her family. Her father worked in exports, and her mother managed a restaurant.

Discovering the Violin

Kyung Wha started playing the piano when she was four years old. At age seven, she began learning the violin. It quickly became clear that she was much better at the violin! She was seen as a child prodigy, which means she was incredibly talented at a very young age. By the time she was nine, she was already performing the Mendelssohn Violin Concerto with the Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra.

Family of Musicians

As she grew up, Kyung Wha won many music competitions in Korea. She also toured around the country with her brothers and sisters. They performed music together and she also played by herself. Her mother felt that Korea was too small for her children to become even more famous musicians. So, the family decided to move to the United States.

Many of Kyung Wha's siblings played classical instruments. Three of them became professional musicians, just like her.

• Her younger brother, Myung-whun Chung, is a conductor and a pianist.
• Her older sister, Myung-wha Chung, is a cellist and teaches at the Korean National University of Arts in Seoul.

Later in their careers, these three siblings started performing together as the Chung Trio.

Studying in America

When Kyung Wha was thirteen, she moved to the United States. She went to the Juilliard School in New York, a very famous music school. Her older sister, Myung-Soh Chung, who played the flute, also went there. At Juilliard, Kyung Wha studied with a great teacher named Ivan Galamian.

A Brilliant Musical Career

Kyung Wha Chung's career took off in a big way. She became known for her powerful and expressive playing.

Winning Competitions and Big Performances

In 1967, Kyung Wha Chung and another talented violinist named Pinchas Zukerman both won the Edgar Leventritt Competition. This was the first time in the competition's history that two people shared the top prize! Winning this award led to many chances to perform in North America. She played with famous groups like the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and the New York Philharmonic. She even filled in for another famous violinist, Nathan Milstein, at a special event at the White House.

International Success

Her next big chance came in 1970. She filled in for Itzhak Perlman to play with the London Symphony Orchestra. This performance was a huge success! It led to many more concerts in the United Kingdom and a contract to record music with Decca/London.

Her first album was with André Previn and the London Symphony Orchestra. It featured concertos by Tchaikovsky and Sibelius. This album made her famous around the world. It was even highly recommended on a BBC Radio 3 show called Building a Library. In Europe, Chung continued to learn and improve her skills with the musician Joseph Szigeti.

Famous Recordings

Kyung Wha Chung has recorded many important violin concertos, including those by Beethoven, Tchaikovsky, and Berg. She has also recorded chamber music, which is music for a small group of instruments. These include violin sonatas by Brahms, Franck & Debussy, and Respighi & Strauss. Her recording of the Respighi & Strauss sonatas with Krystian Zimerman won a Gramophone Award for Best Chamber Recording.

Other famous recordings include Vivaldi's Four Seasons, which was chosen as Gramophone's top pick. She also recorded the Brahms violin concerto with the Vienna Philharmonic, led by Simon Rattle.

Later Career and Return to Stage

In 1997, Kyung Wha Chung celebrated 30 years since her first international performance. She had special concerts at the Barbican Centre in London and in her hometown of Seoul, South Korea.

Around 2008, she had to stop performing for a while because of an illness and an injury. She returned to live performances in London in December 2014. During this concert, she reacted to some coughing in the audience, which caused some discussion.

Kyung Wha Chung has two sons, Frederick and Eugene.

Teaching and Awards

In 2007, Chung joined the Juilliard School as a teacher. She taught in both the main Music Division and the Pre-College Division. She has also received important awards for her contributions to music. She won the Kyung-Ahm Prize in 2005. In 2011, she received the Ho-Am Prize in the Arts for her amazing 40-year career as a violinist and teacher.

Selected Recordings

Kyung Wha Chung has made many recordings throughout her career. Here are some of her notable solo and trio albums.

Solo Recordings

Chung Trio Recordings

The Chung Trio features Kyung Wha Chung on violin, her sister Myung-wha Chung on cello, and her brother Myung-whun Chung on piano.

See also

In Spanish: Kyung-wha Chung para niños