Hee Sung Joo - Piano
Seoul National University, South Korea
The Korean pianist, Hee Sung Joo, first came to international attention after winning first prize in the Dudley International Piano Competition in England in 1995. Chosen from more than 60 pianists representing 22 countries, Ms. Joo subsequently gave her London debut in 1996 at the Royal Festival Hall.
Following her success in England where she concertized extensively, Ms. Joo went on to become a prizewinner in the U.S. at the Wideman Piano Competition, as well as earned distinctions in both the Cleveland International Piano Competition and the William Kapell International Competition in Baltimore where she won the Nancy W. Miller Memorial prize in 1996.
After Ms. Joo took the first place in the 2002 New Orleans International Piano Competition,
and she made several appearances in the New Orleans area, including a performance with the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra. Other U.S. appearances have included recitals in Jordan Hall (Boston), the Isabella Stuart Gardener Museum, French Library, Harvard Musical Association Hall, Wesleyan College Crowell Concert Hall, and Loyola University. She also had two feature recitals in Connecticut as the first prize winner of the Simone Belsky Music Award Competition in 1999.
A native of Seoul, Hee Sung Joo, began piano studies at age of 5. She graduated Seoul High School of Arts and received her bachelor degree at Seoul National University before she started to study at New England Conservatory of Music in the U.S. Winner of first prizes in the two major piano competitions in Korea, the Hankuk Journals and the Dong-A Music Competition, Ms. Joo made her debut with Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra in 1990. Since receiving the full-time teaching position at Seoul National University in 2003, she has made many recitals in Hoam Art Hall, Kumho Art Hall in Seoul and Berlin Philharmonie Hall, as well as a made a number of appearances as a soloist with major orchestras including Korean Symphony, Bucheon Philharmonic, Busan Philharmonic, Incheon Philharmonic, and Daegu Philharmonic Orchestras. She has been invited by the Korean Broadcasting System FM radio and recorded her recital as one of the concert series of 200th Anniversary of Chopin’s birth. She was also invited to Korea, Busan, Tong-Young, Berlin, and Beijing International Music Festivals and gave numerous chamber music concerts. Recently, she spent her sabbatical year as a visiting scholar at Indiana University, presenting a recital in Jacobs School of Music Auer Hall in 2011.
She is now teaching as an associate professor of the Piano Department at Seoul National University in Korea.