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. Seong-Jin Cho was brought to the world’s attention in 2015 when he won First Prize at the Chopin International Competition, and his career has rapidly ascended since. In 2016, he signed an exclusive contract with Deutsche Grammophon, and in 2023 Cho was awarded the Samsung Ho-Am Prize in the Arts, in recognition of his exceptional contributions to the world of classical music.

An artist high in demand, Seong-Jin Cho works with the world’s most prestigious orchestras. In the 2024/25 season he is to become Artist in Residence with the Berliner Philharmoniker. Further important relationships include Wiener Philharmoniker, London Symphony Orchestra, Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks, New York Philharmonic and The Philadelphia Orchestra. Conductors he regularly collaborates with include Myung-Whun Chung, Gustavo Dudamel, Andris Nelsons, Yannick Nézet-Séguin, Gianandrea Noseda, Sir Simon Rattle, Santtu-Matias Rouvali, Esa-Pekka Salonen and Lahav Shani.

Highlights of the 2023/24 season included 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 returned to the Concertgebouworkest and Boston Symphony Orchestra, giving performances in both Boston and Carnegie Hall, and made debuts with The Cleveland Orchestra, San Francisco and Chicago Symphony Orchestras. A highly sought-after touring soloist, Cho embarked 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. In spring 2024, he also performed with the National Symphony Orchestra Washington and Gianandrea Noseda in concerts across Europe.

As an active recitalist, Seong-Jin Cho appears in the world’s most distinguished concert halls including the main stage of Carnegie Hall, Concertgebouw Amsterdam, Berliner Philharmonie, Musikverein Wien, Konzerthaus Wien, Prinzregententheater München, Barbican London, Suntory Hall Tokyo, Walt Disney Hall Los Angeles, Festival International de piano de la Roque d’Anthéron, and Verbier Festival. During the 2023/24 season he performed solo recitals at halls including the Alte Oper Frankfurt, Théâtre des Champs-Élysées, KKL Luzern, Sala Santa Cecilia, Megaron Athens and Carnegie Hall.

Seong-Jin Cho’s latest recording is a solo album entitled The Handel Project, released in February 2023, and in August 2021, he released Chopin’s Piano Concerto No. 2 as well as Scherzi with the London Symphony Orchestra and Gianandrea Noseda. He had previously recorded his first album with the same orchestra and conductor featuring Chopin’s Piano Concerto No. 1 and the Four Ballades. His solo album entitled The Wanderer was released in 2020 and features Schubert’s “Wanderer” Fantasy, Berg’s Piano Sonata op. 1 and Liszt’s Piano Sonata in B minor. A solo Debussy recital was released in November 2017, followed by a Mozart album with the Chamber Orchestra of Europe and Yannick Nézet-Séguin in 2018. All albums have been released on the Yellow Label and have garnered impressive critical acclaim worldwide.

Born in 1994 in Seoul, Seong-Jin Cho started learning the piano at the age of six and gave his first public recital aged 11. In 2009, he became the youngest-ever winner of Japan’s Hamamatsu International Piano Competition. In 2011, he won Third Prize at the International Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow at the age of 17. From 2012-2015 he studied with Michel Béroff at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique de Paris. Seong-Jin Cho is now based in Berlin.