Seong-Jin Cho

In 2015, pianist Seong-Jin Cho became the first South Korean musician to win the prestigious Chopin International Competition in Warsaw, launching his international career. Cho was born in Seoul in 1994, and began his music studies at age six, giving his first public recital when he was 11. He went on to study with Michael Béroff at the Paris Conservatory, and as the winner of the Chopin competition recorded an album of the composer’s works for Deutsche Grammophon, which was successful enough to result in an exclusive contract with the yellow label the following year. In the years since, he has performed with some of the world’s top orchestras, including the Berlin Philharmonic, where he debuted on a tour of Asia in 2017 under the baton of Simon Rattle. He has excelled in various settings, where the sensitivity of his touch has not only made him a compelling soloist, but a marvellous accompanist, as on recordings with baritone Matthias Goerne (Im Abendrot, 2021).