Minsoo Sohn
Sunday, September 24, 2023 – 3:00 PM
Mairs Concert Hall, Macalester College
“Sohn plays with a thrilling, personal, hall-filling sound that is also flexible, vocal, and immediate; he was born to play the piano. One can feel absolutely certain that Sohn is an artist, a man who will create life in music, find listeners, and reward them.”
— Boston Globe
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Program
RACHMANINOFF Élégie in E-flat minor, Op. 3, no. 1
RACHMANINOFF Études-Tableaux, Op. 33
Intermission
RACHMANINOFF Études-Tableaux, Op. 39
Korean-American pianist Minsoo Sohn is known for his musical intelligence and masterful virtuosity. His readings of the works of Bach and Beethoven in particular have placed him among the rarefied few in this repertoire, and the inspired ingenuity of his performances of orchestral repertoire have earned him many accolades. He has toured extensively throughout North and South America, Europe, Israel, and Korea and has appeared in important venues and festivals. As a soloist, he has performed with leading orchestras including Boston Symphony, Calgary Philharmonic, Israel Philharmonic, National Orchestra of Belgium and KBS Symphony, and collaborated with leading conductors such as Yannick Nézet-Séguin, Keith Lockhart, and Jahja Ling.
In 2006 Sohn became First Laureate at the Honens International Piano Competition in Calgary with his standout performance of Bach’s Goldberg Variations. Since then, he has become widely noted for his interpretation of the Goldbergs, with The New York Times naming his Honens CD one of the top classical recordings of 2011.
In 2020, coinciding with the 250th anniversary of Beethoven’s birth, Sohn concluded a four-year immersion in the composer’s music, which included concerts, recordings, and writings. Over the course of his Beethoven project, Sohn performed and recorded the composer’s thirty-two sonatas in a series of recitals at Seoul Arts Center, with recording sessions at Tongyeong Concert Hall. The recital series also included Beethoven’s monumental Diabelli Variations and Bagatelles. Sony Classical released the highly anticipated nine-album set of complete Beethoven Piano Sonatas in Fall 2020.
After teaching at Michigan State University, Sohn returned to South Korea where he instantly became a much sought-after performer and pedagogue, joining the faculty at Korean National University of Arts. His students have won major prizes at national and international piano competitions, including most recently his student Yunchan Lim’s sensational victory at the 2022 Van Cliburn Competition. In the fall 2023, Sohn joins the faculty at New England Conservatory in Boston, where he himself once studied with Russell Sherman and Wha Kyung Byun.
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“Sohn’s supple fingerwork, natural contrapuntal acumen, singing sonority, unified tempo relationships, and tasteful embellishments command attention at every juncture.”
— Classics Today
“Mr. Sohn’s crisp articulation rendered the fast, virtuosic numbers a delight, and he imbued the slower sections with an appealing intimacy.”
— The New York Times
“…a genuine artist, with a thoughtfully conceived and poetic interpretation, enhanced by tasteful ornamentation.”
— The New York Times
“These were deeply considered, tightly knit performances in which every bar seamlessly followed another and also filled its right place in the whole. It is virtually impossible to pick his interpretations apart, point to details, and observe that Minsoo Sohn is doing this with the music here and that there. It all seemed consequent and inevitable.”
— New York Arts
“His fingers flew across the keyboard; he shook long octave passages out of his sleeve; his tone went from whispers to rafter-shaking, though sometimes steely power. His affinity for the style – its phrasing, melodic contours, confident virtuosity – was complete.”
— New York Concert Review
"Sohn tosses off the fearsome technical challenges without breaking stride while at the same time elegantly colouring each mood.”
— Toronto Star