Min Kwon

Min Kwon (born Kwon, Min-Kyung) is a Korean-American pianist and professor of music at Mason Gross School of the Arts, Rutgers University in New Jersey. Previously, she has taught piano minor and chamber music at The Juilliard School in New York.

Background

Min Kwon began playing the piano at the age of three under the tutelage of her mother. She also studied violin and cello, and received the Music Award from the Korean Department of Education at the age twelve, making her debut as piano soloist with the Korean Symphony in Mendelssohn’s Concerto No. 1, and performing Saint Saens Concerto No. 2 with the nationally televised Seoul Philharmonic. At the age of 14, she received a full scholarship to study at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia, and made her North American debut with the Philadelphia Orchestra at the age of 16, performing the Prokofiev Concerto No. 3. While at Curtis, she studied with Eleanor Sokoloff, Gary Graffman, and Leon Fleisher, and participated in the masterclasses of such artists as Richard Goode, Eugene Istomin, and Murray Perahia. After earning her Bachelor of Music degree at the age of 19, Min Kwon continued her studies at The Juilliard School with Martin Canin. She holds MM and DMA degrees from Julliard, and completed post-doctoral studies in Austria with Hanz Leygraf. As the winner of the Beethoven Concerto Competition, she made her New York debut in 1992 with the Juilliard Orchestra at the Avery Fisher Hall of Lincoln Center under Stanislaw Skrowaczewski, performing Beethoven’s Concerto No. 4. Other noted concerto collaborations include conductors such as James Conlon, Alan Gilbert, and Vaktang Jiordania. She made tours of South America with Orquesta Estaudo Mexico and Orquesta Sinforinca Venezuela, and appeared with all the major orchestras in Korea. Winner: Juilliard's Gina Bachauer International Piano Award (1995), the Kingsvile International Competition, Van Cliburn Institute Competition, Jaen Int'l, Scottish Int'l, Dong-A Int'l, and Calabria Int'l, as well as First Prize from the New York Keyboard Institute and Festival Dorothy McKenzie Artist Awards, and Grand Prize from Korea's KBS Emerging Artists Awards.

Performances and Critical Acclaim

Min Kwon has given solo and chamber recitals in Seoul, Singapore, Sydney, and to a sold out audience in New York's Carnegie Weill Recital Hall, as well as performed on numerous international stages, including the Colmar Festival in France, in Germany, Tartu, Estonia, Stavanger, Norway, Malaysia, Curacao, and Switzerland. Following her 2006 Carnegie Hall recital, the New York Concert Review wrote, "...sonic thunder and pianistic lightning… Min allowed for both simplicity and opulence and the results were gratifying." Her recital in Manila, Phillipines, was praised in the Phillipine Inquirer as "a ravishingly beautiful and powerful performance forging a special bond with the audience." Her performance of Olivier Messiaen Vingt Regards L'enfant Jesus on BBC TV prompted the critic of The Herald to write, "Very impressive, astonishingly gifted." Min Kwon's recent concerto engagements include Wiener Residenz Orchester in Vienna (Mozart K. 488), New York Sinfornietta (Haydn Concerto in D), Manhattan Chamber Orchestra (Bach BWV 1516), Bucharest Philharmonic in Italy (Mozart K. 271), and the Asian Premiere of Paul Schonfield’s Four Parables for Piano with the Daejun Philharmonic in Korea.

Min Kwon, together with her sister, violinist Yoon Kwon, became the first Koreans to record for RCA Red Seal in 1995. Between 1994 and 2000, the duo has performed extensively under the CAMI (Columbia Artist Management Inc.) Community Concerts and IMG Artists Management. In addition to the duo album, Min has recorded solo piano works featured in You and Me and Concerto Extravaganza. Featuring the music of Schubert and Liszt, her newest album was released in 2008 by MSR Classics and is a collaboration with Grammy Award-winning producer, David Frost.

Teaching

Min Kwon is in great demand around the world as a gifted and inspiring teacher. Her students have been accepted to many major conservatories, including Juilliard, Manhattan, Mannes, Peabody, Eastman, and New England, as well as truimphed in numerous competitions. Dr. Kwon has showcased her students at festivals where she has been to teach, which have included the Kuhmo International Chamber Music Festival in Finland, AMEROPA International Chamber Music Festival in the Czech Republic, and the Altenburg MozartFest in Austria. She has conducted masterclasses at Shanghai Conservatory, Beijing Central Conservatory, Hong Kong Academy of Fine Arts, Hong Kong University, Yong Siew Toh Conservatory of Singapore, and the Vladimir Feltsman PianoFest in SUNY New Paltz, New York, as well as served as a guest professor at London Royal College of Music and the International Keyboard Institute in Korea.

Other Notables

Min, with her sister, Yoon, modeled for a Pantene Shampoo TV commercial in 2001. She was also seen on the Hour of Power with Robert Schuller, and was featured as the cover story of Virtuoso, Travel Magazine, in "Maestro on Mediterranean." Since 1996, Min Kwon is also the highest rated classical artist onboard Crystal Cruises, a 6-star award-winning cruise line, and was twice named their Classical Artist of the Year (2002 and 2005). Min Kwon has traveled to 62 countries.

Min has also contributed exclusive articles in Korean music publications, most notably Piano Music, in which she interviewed such pianists as Kristjan Zimmerman, Yevgeny Kissin, Leif Ove Andsnes, Mitsuko Uchida, Murray Perhaia, and Pierre Laurent Aimard.

Min Kwon is a Steinway Artist.

She lives in New York City with her husband, Dr. Leonard Lee, a cardiothorasic surgeon.

Discography

1996 Yoon Kwon / Min Kwon (works by Part, Brahms, de Falla, Gershwin, Kreisler)

2000 You and Me (works by Chopin, Rachmaninoff, Copland, Schonfield)

2005 Concerto Extravaganza (works by Bach, Mozart, Beethoven, Mendelssohn, Chopin, Grieg, Rachmaninoff)

2008 Schubert and Liszt ( Schubert Sonata D 850, Schubert/Liszt Gretchen am Spinnrade, Liszt Gnomenreigen, Reminiscence de Don Juan)

External Links

http://www.minkwon.com

http://www.masongross.rutgers.edu/music/MinKwon.html