SUNGHOON SIMON HWANG, Pianist

                    

                            

Education

         

1991-1994   Busan Highschool of Arts(Teacher: Jungja Jung)

1994-1998   Korean university of Arts(Prof. Jongphil Lim, Daejin Kim,

                   Choongmo Kang)    

1998-          Hannover Musikhochschule (Prof. Einar Steen-Nökleberg)

2002-2004   Santa Cecilia Accademia (Prof. Sergio Perticaroli)

2004-2005   Ecole Normale de Musique de Paris (Prof. Youngshin An)

2006-          Hannover Musikhochschule

                   (Prof. Mi-Kyung Kim)                         

              

Award

                

1999  

Third Prize at the 45th international music competition "Maria Canals"

in Barcelona, spain

Second Prize at the 21st international piano competition "A.M.A.Calabria"

in Lamezia Terme, Italy

Grand Prix at the 14th international music competition "Rovere d'oro"

in San Bartolomeo al Mare, Italy

Second Prize at the 28th international piano competition "Citta di Senigallia" in Senigallia, Italy

Second Prize at the 15th international piano competition "Citta di Marsala" in Marsala, Italy

First Prize at the 30th international music competition "Vincenzo Bellini"

in Caltanissetta, Italy

              

2000  

First Prize at the 2nd international music competition "Johannes Brahms"

in Aqui Terme, Italy

First Prize at the 2nd international piano competition "Anton Rubinstein"

in Aqui Terme, Italy       

                  

2001   

Second Prize & Special Prize(Best Interpretation of French Music) at the 18th international piano competition in Epinal, France

Second Prize at the 43rd international piano competition "Premio Jaen"

in Jaen, Spain

Fourth Prize & Special Prize(Best Interpretation of Contemporary Music) at the 18th international piano competition "Cidade do Porto"

in Porto, Portugal

Third Prize at the 6th international piano competition "San Remo Classico" in San Remo, Italy

Third Prize at the 6th Hamamatsu international piano Academy competition in Hamamatsu, Japan

          

2002  

First Prize at the 2nd international music competition "Citta di Minerbio"

in Minerbio, Italy

Second Prize at the 2nd international piano competition "Glenn Gould"

in Ostra, Italy

Second Prize & Audience Prize at the 29th international music competition "Luis Sigall" in Vina del Mar, Chile

Second Prize at the 11th international piano competition "Ennio Porrino"

in Cagliari, Italy

                     

2003  

First Prize & Special Prize(Best Interpretation of Classical Sonata) at the 12th international piano competition in Carlet, Spain

Second Prize at the 6th international piano competition "Mauro Paolo Monopoli" in Barletta, Italy

First Prize at the 3rd international piano competition "Sergei Prokofieff"

in Ostra, Italy

Second Prize at the 13th international piano competition "Sergei Rachmaninoff" in Morcone, Italy

Sixth Prize at the 1st Taiwan international piano competition in Taipei, Taiwan

Third Prize & Special Prize(Best Interpretation of French Music) at the 9th international piano competition in Andorra

                

2005  

Second Prize at the 7th international piano competition "Ile de France"

in Maisons-Laffitte, France

Grand Prix & Special Prize(Best interpretation of Romantic work) at the 4th international music competition in Guardiagrele, Italy

         

2006  

First Prize at the 6th international music competition "Giovanni Talenti"

in Voghera, Italy

First Prize at the 3rd international piano competition "Giuseppe Terracciano" in Sieti, Italy

First Prize & Special Prize(Best interpretation of mandatory piece) at the 30th "Palma d'oro" international music competition in Finale Ligure, Italy

       

2008

First Prize at the 3rd international piano competition "Ernesto Falla" in Candelo, Italy

First Prize at the 10th international music competition "Euterpe" in Corato, Italy

First Prize at the 1st international music competition "Toscana Classica"

in Pontedera, Italy

First Prize at the 16th international music competition "Gianluca Campochiaro" in Pedara, Italy

     

2009

     

First Prize at the Guido da Venosa international music competition(Piano Duo)in Bari, Itlay

First Prize at the Claude Bonneton international piano competition

in Sete, France

       

                

Concerts:

                   

Concerts with orchestra

               

Filarmonica Marchigiana, Orchestre de Montbeliard, Orquestra de Granada, Orquesta nacional do Porto, San Remo Symphony Orchestra, Duisburg Symphony, Sinfonica Siciliana, Vina del Mar regional Orchestra, Bacau Philharmonic, Taiwan NSO, Orquestra Sinfonica de Carlet, Seoul Academy Symphony and Busan Metropolitan Philharmonic.

                 

                

Solo Concerts in

             

Chopin Society(L'institut Polonais, Paris), the William Walton Foundation(Ischia, Italy), Wiener Saal(Salzburg, Austria), Palau de la Musica(Barcelona & Valencia), Taipei Grand Concert Hall(Taiwan), Landesmuseum(Hannover, Germany), Instrumenten Museum(Berlin, Germany), Rüglander Schlosskonzert(Rügland, Germany), Sejong Grand Culture Hall(Seoul, Korea), Teatro degli Atti(Rimini, Italy), Bürgersaal Rathaus Gehrden(Gehrden, Germany), Santa Cecilia Auditorium(Roma, Italy), Teatro Era(Pontedera, Italy)

                 

                  

                

Festivals

                  

Alfredo Speranza international piano festival, Altstadt music festival, Grosseto international piano festival, Busoni international piano festival,

Wennigsen music festival.

     

     

    

Biography

      

The concert pianist Sunghoon Simon Hwang is one of the most prominent pianists of his generation. In Europe as well as in Asia he already performed with numerous orchestras world-wide, such as the Orchestre de Montbeliard, the San Remo Symphony Orchestra, the Duisburg Symphony, the Orquestra Granada, the Orquestra Nacional do Porto, the Filarmonica Marchigiana, the Orchestra Sinfonica Sicilliana, the Vina del Mar Orchestra, the Bacau Symphony, the Taiwan National Symphony Orchestra, the Orquestra Sinfonica Perfecto Garcia Chornet, the Seoul Academy Symphony Orchestra and the Busan Metropolitan Orchestra.


He won more than 30 international prizes at prestigious piano competitions like Epinal, Jaen, Porto, Senigallia, Maria Canals, Luis Sigall, Glenn Gould, Serge Prokofiev, Sergei Rachmaninoff, Anton Rubinstein, Johannes Brahms and Euterpe. Furthermore, he received 9 special interpretation prizes. He got many invitations from European music festivals like the Ferrucio Busoni festival, the Alfredo Speranza Festival, the Grosseto international piano festival, the “Klassik in der Altstadt” festival and the Wennigsen music festival.


Sunghoon Simon Hwang studied at the Korean National University of Arts in Seoul with Prof. J.P. Lim, at the Santa Cecilia Academia in Roma with world-famous Prof. Sergio Perticaroli, at the École Normal de Musique in Paris with Prof. Youngshin An, at the Hannover Musikhoschule in the classes of Prof. Einar Steen-Nökleberg and Prof. Mi-Kyung Kim. In 2006 he founded the piano duet ensemble "Duo Arte Mozart" with the Russian pianist Alexey Lebedev.


In the year of his foundation with the "Duo Arte Mozart”, Sunghoon Simon Hwang got an invitation from the North German Broadcasting Station for the program "Culture NDR” in Hannover. Since 2006 the "Duo Arte Mozart" appeared every year with great success at the festival "Klassik in der Altstadt" in Hannover, specially in 2008 with the first nominated Audience Prize. The various repertoire of the ensemble, which includes the works of Bach, Schubert, Schumann, Brahms, Debussy, Ravel, Grieg, Rachmaninoff and Poulenc, has a special main focus - the whole works for 4 hands of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.


Sunghoon Simon Hwang gives master classes for piano, in 2006 at the Otto-von-Guericke University in Magdeburg, in 2000 and 2007 at the high school for arts in Busan, South Korea. In the year 2009 he gave a master class at the Kloster Michaelstein in Blankenburg with an invitation of the “Landesmusikakademie Sachsen-Anhalt” in Germany. Currently he is teaching piano at the Hildesheim University.


Press


"Standing Ovations!!! More than 90 minutes he delivered not only one taste of his skill but also world-class level as an artist in the concert hall Wennigsen. With the last key, the audience jumped up and gave to the Korean pianist long banging and trampling Standing Ovations."

-Wennigsen regional Newspaper-


"The Audience could feel fireworks of the sounds with unbelievable intensity from the 31-years-old pianist Sunghoon Hwang with whole physical energy and unbelievable dynamism to the keys. The sounds drew audience in stormy passages, also in conciliatory softness.

-WEDE Magazine Germany-



"This pianist knows all nuances! Sunghoon Hwang kindled fireworks of tone colors with Ravel "La Valse", in Waltz-Rhythmic as lively as possible like a wild dance. He controlled the keys in all nuances"

-Calenberg Newspaper-


In Ravel "La Valse" a vast amount in tone colors were to be heard, over and again broken by attempts of a waltz like a dance on the volcano. In 7 Fantasien op.116 of Brahms the pianist absolutely express the lyrical late-romantic emotion. He had this also in the slow part of the B-minor sonata Rachmaninoff and the tonal range of the concert piano was expanded by him.

-The Deister Newspaper-


In Liszt Ballade No.2 Sunghoon Hwang made a story with typical Liszt colors like extremes, sharp like razor, biting rhythmic, which increased finally to great cascades. In the 10th study from "Etüdes d'execution Transcendante" he realised spiritual description with instrument between passion and wild Demon.

-The Dewezet Newspaper-


"Standing Ovations!! Brahms 7 Fantasien op.116, height and depth of human emotion, the first Capriccio rose powerfully and wildly and sometimes also expressed like torn soul. It was a risky, passionate interpretation. Marvelously!

-The Schaumburg Newspaper-