Seong-Jin Cho

With an innate musicality and overwhelming talent, Seong-Jin Cho has established himself worldwide as one of the leading pianists of his generation and most distinctive artists on the current music scene. His thoughtful and poetic, assertive and tender, virtuosic, and colourful playing can combine panache with purity and is driven by an impressive natural sense of balance.
Cho was brought to the world’s attention in 2015 when he won First Prize at the »Chopin Competition« in Warsaw, and his career has rapidly ascended since. In early 2016, he signed an exclusive contract with Deutsche Grammophon, and in 2023 Cho was awarded the prestigious »Samsung Ho-Am Prize in the Arts«, in recognition of his exceptional contributions to the world of classical music.
An artist high in demand, Cho works with the world’s most prestigious orchestras including Wiener Philharmoniker, London Symphony Orchestra, Orchestre de Paris, New York Philharmonic and The Philadelphia Orchestra. Conductors he regularly collaborates with include Myung-Whun Chung, Gustavo Dudamel, Andris Nelsons, Yannick Nézet-Séguin, Sir Simon Rattle and Esa-Pekka Salonen.

Highlights of Cho’s 2023/24 season include his anticipated debut at the Salzburger Festspiele with the Mozarteumorchester and Ivor Bolton, and his return to London’s BBC Proms with the Philharmonia Orchestra and Santtu-Matias Rouvali. He notably returns to the Koninklijk Concertgebouworkest, Los Angeles Philharmonic and Boston Symphony Orchestra, giving performances in both Boston and Carnegie Hall, and makes anticipated debuts with The Cleveland Orchestra, San Francisco and Chicago Symphony Orchestras. Cho embarks on several international tours, including with the Berliner Philharmoniker and Kirill Petrenko in Korea, and with the Gewandhausorchester Leipzig and Andris Nelsons in Korea and Japan. He also performs with the National Symphony Orchestra Washington and Gianandrea Noseda throughout Europe in Spring 2024. An active recitalist very much in demand, Cho appears in many of the world’s most prestigious concert halls including the main stage of Carnegie Hall, Concertgebouw Amsterdam, Musikverein Wien, Konzerthaus Wien, Barbican Centre London, Suntory Hall Tokyo, and Walt Disney Hall Los Angeles. During the coming season he is engaged to perform solo recitals at halls including the Alte Oper Frankfurt, Théâtre des Champs-Élysées, and Carnegie Hall.
Cho’s latest recording is his solo album entitled »The Handel Project« (February 2023). All albums have been released on the »Yellow Label« of Deutsche Grammophon and have garnered impressive critical acclaim worldwide.

Born in 1994 in Seoul, Cho started learning the piano at the age of six. In 2009, he became the youngest-ever winner of Japan’s »Hamamatsu International Piano Competition«. At the age of 17, he won the Third Prize at the »International Tchaikovsky Competition« in Moscow. From 2012 to 2015 he studied with Michel Béroff at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique de Paris. Seong-Jin Cho is now based in Berlin.