Biography
Yoonjung “Yoonie” Han first rose to prominence as a teenage sensation in her native South Korea. Leveraging that early visibility, she secured elite instruction in the United States and built a distinguished international performing career. Born on January 12, 1985, in South Korea, Han grew up in a household that possessed a piano yet lacked players; she immediately gravitated to the instrument and, at thirteen, appeared as soloist with the Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra. The first of many distinctions arrived in 2001 when she captured the grand prize at the Korea National Music Competition in Seoul. Subsequent victories at the Masterworks Young Artist Showcase in Pennsylvania and the Juilliard School’s Pre-College Concerto Competition secured her admission to America’s most prestigious conservatories. She studied at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia under Eleanor Sokoloff, then earned a master’s degree at Juilliard after taking top honors in the Gina Bachauer International Piano Competition; Robert McDonald served as her principal teacher there. In 2016 she completed a doctorate at the State University of New York at Stony Brook.
By then Han had already established a robust recital and concerto schedule. Her New York debut occurred at Alice Tully Hall in 2010, and the following year she performed Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 4 in G major, Op. 58, with the Berlin Philharmonic. Her visibility was enhanced by a striking public image, reflected in sponsorships from the Italian fashion house Dolce & Gabbana and the French watchmaker Breguet. Han has also devoted considerable energy to pedagogy, offering master classes at numerous American institutions as well as at Turkey’s Bilkent University. In 2014 she joined violinist Jennifer Carsillo and cellist Kevin Bate to form the Gloriosa Trio, which gave its inaugural concert in Palm Beach, Florida.
Han joined the newly founded Steinway & Sons label in 2012; two years later she issued her first album for the imprint, Love & Longing, a thoughtfully curated set of piano transcriptions of operatic love arias. Her second Steinway release, devoted to the Goyescas of her favorite composer, Enrique Granados, appeared in early 2017.
By then Han had already established a robust recital and concerto schedule. Her New York debut occurred at Alice Tully Hall in 2010, and the following year she performed Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 4 in G major, Op. 58, with the Berlin Philharmonic. Her visibility was enhanced by a striking public image, reflected in sponsorships from the Italian fashion house Dolce & Gabbana and the French watchmaker Breguet. Han has also devoted considerable energy to pedagogy, offering master classes at numerous American institutions as well as at Turkey’s Bilkent University. In 2014 she joined violinist Jennifer Carsillo and cellist Kevin Bate to form the Gloriosa Trio, which gave its inaugural concert in Palm Beach, Florida.
Han joined the newly founded Steinway & Sons label in 2012; two years later she issued her first album for the imprint, Love & Longing, a thoughtfully curated set of piano transcriptions of operatic love arias. Her second Steinway release, devoted to the Goyescas of her favorite composer, Enrique Granados, appeared in early 2017.
Albums
