Yoonjung Han

Education

Principal teachers: Robert McDonald, Eleanor Sokoloff, Eduardus Halim

Teaching experience

University masterclasses / seminars / recitals:

Career

Han's first competitive performance was at age 13, in the Seoul Philharmonic competition, which she won. This was followed by many more such engagements. In 2010, music critic Jon Sobel wrote that she would likely be among the premiere young pianists of the decade, "one of those natural-born performers who become one with the instrument—not trying to surmount it, as a more showy pianist might, but rather losing herself in the music like an actor merging magnetically with a role." Han has also enjoyed special sponsorships from Roche Bobois, the Paris-based international retailer of fine furniture; Breguet, France’s leading maker of luxury timepieces, and Dolce & Gabbana, the Italian fashion house, which has supplied gowns for her concerts.

Han's last album, Love and Longing, on the Steinway & Sons label, was quickly raised on the Classical Billboard chart, and was nominated as "Album of the Week" on WQXR. Her second album with Steinway & Sons was released in February, 2017, Enrique Granados' complete Goyescas to mark the 150th anniversary of the composer's birth. The album features Black Duchess of Alba of Francisco Goya.

Han is a Steinway & Sons concert and recording artist. She is on the faculty of Piano and Chamber Music at Bilkent University, Turkey.

1998–2008

At age thirteen, Han made her solo debut with the Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra at Sejong Concert Hall, playing Beethoven's Piano Concerto Number 3 in C minor.

Han won the Concerto Competition at the Juilliard Pre-College, and performed with the Pre-College Symphony at the Juilliard Theater. On February 19, 2005 she performed the Rachmaninoff Piano Concerto Number 2 in C minor with the Pottstown Symphony Orchestra in Pottstown, Pennsylvania as part of their Masterworks II: Young Artist Showcase program. She was selected as one of thirty-eight pianists worldwide and from May 9 to June 5, 2005 participated in the 2005 TCU/Cliburn Piano Institute Young Artists program in conjunction with the Twelfth Van Cliburn International Piano Competition, performing at the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth and the PepsiCo Recital Hall at the TCU Walsh Center for Performing Arts.

On February 24, 2006, Han performed a two-hour recital of Bach-Busoni, Mozart, Chopin, and Liszt at Dudley Recital Hall at the University of Houston. On July 23, 2006 she performed as a soloist with the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra in their "Bravo Beethoven" concert at Artpark. As the 2005 Kosciuszko Foundation Chopin Competition winner, on November 4 and 19, 2006, Han performed solo recitals at the Consulate General of the Republic of Poland in New York.

On March 7, 2007, Han performed a recital at the Fifth Annual Steinway Piano Festival at Dauer Hall at the University of Florida. On September 15, 2007 she opened the Shreveport Symphony Orchestra's 60th season, performing the Liszt Piano Concerto Number 1 in E-flat major in their Diamond Jubilee concert.

In June 2008, Han won the 2008 Juilliard Gina Bachauer International Piano Competition, and the Munz Chopin Competition. Along with a Lincoln Center recital, the winners received full tuition scholarships to Juilliard. On August 10, 2008 Han performed Mozart's Piano Concerto Number 22 in E-flat major, K. 482 at Eric Harvie Theatre with the Banff Festival Orchestra at the 2008 Banff Summer Arts Festival in Banff National Park, Alberta, Canada. On October 28, 2008 she gave a recital at the Taft Museum of Art in Cincinnati, Ohio as the gold medalist of the 2008 Cincinnati World Piano Competition.

2009–2010

On June 10, 2009, Han performed in the Dame Myra Hess Memorial Concert Series at Preston Bradley Hall of the Chicago Cultural Center. The concert was also broadcast live on WFMT (98.7 FM) radio and Channel 25 television.

She performed again at the Vladimir Nielsen Piano Festival in Sag Harbor, New York.

Han received the 2009 Gawon International Music Society of Seoul, South Korea award. This award is given to the "most brilliant pianist aged 17-31 of any nationality who possesses the most promising potential for global prominence, to provide support for the artist's continued development and maturation as a musician." Han performed a solo recital at the Sejong Center for the Performing Arts in Seoul, South Korea on September 19, 2009 as part of the award.

On April 16, 2010, Han performed a solo recital of Haydn, Chopin, Granados, and R. Schumann at Starr Theater, Alice Tully Hall, Lincoln Center in New York City.

On July 10, 2010, she won the Keyboard Charitable Trust Career Development Award at the Concurso Internacional de Piano in Florianópolis, Santa Catarina, Brazil.

2011–2013

On April 29, 2011, Han won the Fourth Prize at the Premi Internacional Pianístic de Paterna in Paterna, Valencia, Spain.

On May 22, 2011, she won the First Prize and Audience Prize out of 150 entrants from 40 countries at the Fulbright Concerto Competition in Fayetteville, Arkansas. On May 28, 2011, she won the First Prize, Louis A. Potter Award out of 222 entrants at the 2011 Washington International Competition for Piano at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C.. On September 11, 2011 she was one of six pianists in the world named a finalist for the Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli Prize awarded by the city of Eppan an der Weinstraße, Italy. On November 24, 2011 she won the Rencontre International de Piano competition in Paris, sponsored by the Automobile Club de France.

On November, 2011, Han made her European debut playing Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 4 with the Berliner Symphoniker at the main stage of Berlin Philharmonie. The following week, she continued her European tour, playing at the Beckstein in Frankfurt, Germany, and then at the Salle Cortot in Paris. On December 7, 2011 she returned to perform a solo recital of Mompou and Granados at the Dame Myra Hess Memorial Concert Series at Preston Bradley Hall of the Chicago Cultural Center. The concert was also broadcast live on WFMT (98.7 FM) radio and wfmt.com.

On March 28, 2012, Han made her Kennedy Center solo recital debut in the Terrace Theater in Washington, DC. She played a program of Bach-Busoni Chaconne, Granados Goyescas "Los Requiebros" and "El Amor Y La Muerte," Liszt En Rêve and La Campanella, and Schumann Carnaval. The recital was presented by the Friday Morning Music Club in honor of Han's first prize in the 2011 Washington International Competition for Piano.

On July 18, 2012, WQXR-FM New York radio broadcast Han's Dvorak "Two Slavonic Dances" and Chopin Piano Concerto No. 2 with the New York Concert Artists Symphony Orchestra conducted by as part of their weekly McGraw-Hill Companies Young Artists Showcase program.

In December, 2012 Yoonie Han was honored as a Steinway Artist by Steinway & Sons in New York City, adding her to a roster of the most accomplished and discriminating artists in the world. With the support of the Fulbright Foundation and Steinway, Han was the first concert classical pianist to make a tour of major Steinway galleries in USA and Europe. in May, 2013, her first album was released by Concert Artists Guild. In the winter of 2013 she performed the Beethoven Concerto No.3 with the Santa Cruz Symphony and Boca Raton Symphonia. She collaborated with New York Philarmonic Principal Clarinetist Anthony McGill Baltimore Symphony Orchestra Principal Cellist Dariusz Skoraczewski, and Metropolitan Opera Lindemann Young Artist Program. Han performed at the Frick Collection in New York at a concert sponsored by Breguet, the luxury watchmaker. At the Frick, she performed her own transcription of Franz Liszt's Concerto No. 1. She triumphed on her Europe tour at the Concertgebouw in Netherland, Slovakia Philharmonic Hall in Slovakia, and Bergamo Festival in Italy.

2014–2015

In January 2014, Han's Gloriosa Piano Trio made a sold-out debut at the Flagler Museum in Palm Beach, Florida. The Trio performed at New Jersey City University, University of North Florida, Boulder Chamber Orchestra Music Series, Shorter University, In January, she performed two concerts in a collaboration with scientists at Salk Institute in California, and Max Planck Institute in Florida.

In May, 2014, Han's album Love and Longing on Steinway & Sons record label was named "Album of the Week" on WQXR, and rise quickly on the Billboard Classical chart. At her CD release party at the Louis Meisel Gallery in New York, she performed on the historic Centennial Steinway from 1876 Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia. A special dress was provided for the occasion by Dolce & Gabbana. In December, 11, she played another cooperate event for the Legal Aid Society, where she presented Schumann Carnaval Op. 9, and Gershwin Rhapsody in Blue. In June, 2014, Han received the "Brava!" award from the Italian Academy Foundation. On September 19, 2014, Han opened the season of the New Jersey Festival Orchestra, under the baton of Maestro David Wroe, with a performance of the Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto No. 1. On November 11, 2014, Han performed at the main showroom of the French luxury furniture company, Roche Bobois, in New York, in association with Steinway and Dolce & Gabbana The concert was a huge success, she played a further recital at their San Francisco showroom, and will return to the Seattle and Paris showrooms. Yoonie Han joined on the faculty of Piano and Chamber Music at the Bilkent University in Ankara, Turkey. She performed with Juilliard Residence String Quartets Attaca and Aelous and gave a seminar (2015, 2016) at Baruch College City University of New York, with its Resident String Quartet, Alexander.

2015–2016

In September, 2015, Han performed for the Philippine Cancer Society Gala, and donated her albums on Steinway & Sons. In February, 2016, she played a recital for the 30th anniversary of Bilkent University Turkey. In April, 2016, Han presented a seminar at Harvard University about her experience working with living composers, and performed a recital for the 50th anniversary for the Davis Center for Russian Studies. In the summer of 2016, she joined as a faculty member at Amalfi Coast Music Festival Italy. In September, 2016, Han gave a masterclass and performance at Boston University and New Jersey City University. She also performed for American Cancer Society Hope Lodge at Steinway Hall in New York, and donated her albums on Steinway & Sons.

2016–2017

In October, 2016, Han performed at Western New Mexico University and Rio Grande Theater in New Mexico. In December, 2016, Han collaborated with the Canadian Brass. In February, 2017, Han's second album with Enrique Granados' Goyescas was released on Steinway & Sons label to mark the 150th anniversary of the composer's birth. The cover featured the famous painting of Francisco Goya, Black Duchess of Alba. In the same month, she gave a masterclass and performance at California State University Sacramento, a seminar "Arts into Music into Performance" at Baruch College City University of New York, and toured with her piano trio, Gloriosa at Oxford College Emory University and Georgia SouthWestern State University. In the summer of 2017, Han joined as a faculty member at AmiCa Piano Festival, Italy.