William Youn

William Youn

Piano

Representation: worldwide

Asia management by Sobang Yoo at SBU Vienna

Representation in Germany, Austria and Switzerland for Recitals & Chamber Music by Haefliger Production

Contact:
E: leontien.vandervliet@interartists.nl
T: +31 6 5 24 68 707

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Critics have described him as “a true poet of the piano.”: Pianist William Youn has garnered an international reputation, particularly noted for his subtlety, clarity, emotional depth, and sensitive interpretation. His extensive repertoire spans solo, chamber, and orchestral works, including compositions by Bach, Mozart, Schubert, Chopin, Rachmaninov, as well as contemporary pieces. He presents himself as a versatile artist who enjoys sharing his creative passion and spirit of exploration.

From Berlin to Seoul to New York, Youn has performed throughout the world with renowned orchestras such as the Cleveland Orchestra, the Munich Philharmonic, the Bamberg Symphony, the Deutsches Symphonie Orchester Berlin, the Belgian National Orchestra, the Mariinsky Orchestra, the Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra, the KBS Symphony Orchestra, the Amsterdam Sinfonietta the Munich Chamber Orchestra and the Ensemble Resonanz in many of the world’s finest concert halls, including Wigmore Hall in London, the Konzerthaus in Vienna, the Elbphilharmonie in Hamburg, the Pierre Boulez Saal and the Konzerthaus in Berlin, the Tokyo Opera City Concert Hall, the Alte Oper in Frankfurt, deSingel in Antwerp, Walt Disney Hall in Los Angeles, and the Seoul Arts Center. Among his distinguished musical collaborators are conductors Myung-Whun Chung, Thomas Hengelbrock, Hannu Lintu, Pietari Inkinen, Bernard Labadie, Riccardo Minasi, Kristiina Poska, Shiyeon Sung and Mario Venzago; composers Isabel Mundry, Konstantia Gourzi and Manfred Trojahn, as well as violist Nils Mönkemeyer and clarinetist Sabine Meyer.

William Youn is also a frequent guest at international festivals such as Menuhin Festival in Gstaad, Schubertiade in Hohenems/Schwarzenberg, MITO SettembreMusica, Grafenegg Festival, Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival, Rheingau Musik Festival, Heidelberger Frühling, Festspiele Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Mozartfest Würzburg, Montréal Bach Festival, Schwetzinger SWR Festspiele and Davos Festival.

Highlights of the season 2025/26 included international debuts with orchestras such as the Konzerthausorchester Berlin and the London Mozart Players. Youn made his first appearances at the Concertgebouw Amsterdam, the Gewandhaus Leipzig, as well as at the Ruhr Piano Festival and the Bachfest Leipzig. Summer of 2026 is full of festival engagements in Marvao, Moritsburg, Oberlausitz, Mecklenburg Vorpommern. In October he will perform Rachmaninov’s Piano Concerto No.3 with the Jenaer Philharmoniker. Later in Autumn there will be duo recitals with Nils Mönkemeyer in Reutlingen, Wigmore Hall, Kölner Philharmonie, Essener Philharmonie and Villa Musica Mainz.

William Youn has released numerous award-winning CDs. In November 2022, he completed his three-part complete recording of all Schubert piano sonatas for Sony Classical, which was highly praised by the international press, making it a "recording of the century" (Crescendo). He also recorded all Mozart sonatas on five albums for Oehms Classics. To mark the 150th birthday of Reynaldo Hahn, William Youn's first orchestral recording for Sony with piano concertos by Hahn and Nadia Boulanger as well as works by Gabriel Fauré was released by Sony in January 2024. It was honored with the Diapason d'Or.

Born in Seoul, William Youn discovered the piano in kindergarten and moved to Boston in the USA at the age of 13 to study at the New England Conservatory. Five years later, he transferred to the Hanover University of Music, Drama and Media and received further musical impetus as a scholarship holder at the Piano Academy Lake Como, where he was influenced by artistic personalities such as Dmitri Bashkirov, Andreas Staier, William Grant Naboré and Menahem Pressler. He currently serves on the board of trustees for the Wilhelm Kempff Cultural Foundation in Positano and holds a professorship at the Korean National University of Arts Seoul.

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Highlights

2026

27 August: Lotte Concert Hall, in Seoul with the Haykung Arte Philharmonic and Min Chung, Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto no. 1

1 October: Toppan Concert Hall, in Japan, Season Opening Concert with Trio Fumika Mohri, Tatsuki Sasanuma, William Youn

8 October: Volkshaus Jena, with the Jenaer Philharmonie and Simon Gaudenz, Rachmaninoff Piano Concerto no. 3

27 October: Changwon Philharmonic Orchestra, in Korea with conductor Paul Ghun Kim, Brahms Piano Concerto no. 1.

29 October: Reutlingen Chamber Music Cycle, recital with Nils Mönkemeyer

1 November: Wigmore Hall, recital with Nils Mönkemeyer

2 November: Kölner Philharmonie, recital with Nils Mönkemeyer

4 February 2027: Pierre Boulez Saal Berlin, solo recital

Program: John Dowland - In Darkness Let Me Dwell; Thomas Adès - Darknesse Visible für Klavier; Franz Schubert- Klaviersonate C-Dur D 840 «Reliquie»; Reynaldo Hahn - Le rossignol éperdu für Klavier; Franz Liszt - Klaviersonate h-moll S 178

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Reviews on Youn’s Diapason D’or winning Sony CD

with among other Reynaldo Hahn’s Concerto, Gabriel Fauré’s Ballade op. 19 and Nadia Boulangers Fantaisie variée. Performed with the Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin and conductor Valentin Uryupin.

“Youn’s piano brilliantly brings out the ambiguities of the central episode. His balanced dialogue with the Berliners lends a heart-rending quality to the dark thoughts that arise midway through (string ostinatos) and, each time swept away as one wipes away re-emerging tears.”

— Diapason - Marc Lesage

“Bei der seltenen „Fantaisie variée“ von Nadia Boulanger bildet der volle, dunkle Klang des Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchesters Berlin einen schönen Gegenpol zum hell und durchsichtig gehaltenen Klavierpart. Die Wagner-Bewunderung der Komponistin hört man. Bei den für Klavier solo von Youn arrangierten Liedern „À Chloris“ und „L’heure exquise“ von Hahn sowie bei „Après un rêve“ von Fauré gerät der Pianist in ein beinahe sakrales Singen von feinster Couleur.”

— Rondo Magazin

“Eine schöne Entdeckung, charmant präsentiert vom RSO Berlin und William Youn, der immer wieder Raum für feine Nuancen im Klang und im Tempo findet.”

— Album der Woche: NDR

Review on performance of Bach’s Goldberg Variations in Amsterdam

“He made every note—even those played with his left hand—audible. Because of this, and also thanks to his natural tempos, each variation sounded like an organic, well-rounded whole within the vast arc that Bach spans in this opus between the two arias.”

— https://denieuwemuze.nl/pianist-william-youn-wordt-een-met-bachs-goldbergvariaties/

“William Youn hat sich diese Werke genau angeeignet. In den weiteren geperlten, mitunter glitzernden Läufen erkennt man seine Mozart-Erfahrung, in den Momenten mit überraschenden Harmonien seine Vertrautheit mit den Nachwirkungen der Spätromantik. Der Charakter von Fantasie und Improvisation, die Lust am Erzählen wird in allen Werken hörbar. ”

— concerti.ch