Biography (read more)

Seong-Jin Cho (b. 1994, Seoul) began piano at six and studied in Korea before training at the Conservatoire de Paris with Michel Béroff from 2012. He won the Hamamatsu International Piano Competition (2009) and placed third at both the International Tchaikovsky Competition (2011) and the Arthur Rubinstein Competition (2014) before becoming, in 2015, the first Korean pianist to win the International Chopin Piano Competition. He signed with Deutsche Grammophon in 2016 and has released eight studio albums covering Chopin, Debussy, Mozart, and Ravel, performing regularly with orchestras including the Berlin Philharmonic, Vienna Philharmonic, and London Symphony Orchestra. He was Berlin Philharmonic Artist in Residence for the 2024–25 season and LSO Artist Portrait for 2025–26.

Cho’s historic 2015 Chopin Competition win established him as one of the leading pianists of his generation and opened international doors for subsequent Korean classical musicians.

Sources:

Repertoire

Ballade No. 1 in G Minor, Op. 23— Frédéric Chopin
Suite bergamasque: III. Clair de lune— Claude Debussy
Menuetto in G minor (arr. Wilhelm Kempff)— George Frideric Handel
Nocturne Op. 9 No. 2 in E Flat Major— Frédéric Chopin
Ballade No. 4 in F Minor, Op. 52— Frédéric Chopin
Scherzo No. 2 in B Flat Minor, Op. 31— Frédéric Chopin
Pavane pour une infante défunte— Maurice Ravel
Sonatine, M. 40: I. Modéré (Official Music Video)— Maurice Ravel
Etude in C Minor, Op. 10 No. 12 “Revolutionary”— Frédéric Chopin
Jeux D’Eau, M.30— Maurice Ravel
Minuet in G Minor (Arr. Wilhelm Kempff) (WPD performance)— George Frideric Handel
Consolations, S. 172: No. 3 Lento placido in D Flat Major (World Piano Day)— Franz Liszt
Gaspard de la Nuit: I. Ondine (Live from Carnegie Hall)— Maurice Ravel
6 Pieces for Piano, Op. 118, VI. Intermezzo in E Flat Minor— Johannes Brahms
Le tombeau de Couperin, M. 68: 1. Prelude— Maurice Ravel
Variations and Fugue on a Theme by Handel, Op. 24: Var. 5— Johannes Brahms
Polonaise in A flat Major, Op. 53 (excerpt)— Frédéric Chopin