WONNY SONG
PIANO
GALLERY | BIOGRAPHY | REVIEWS | CONCERTO | DISCOGRAPHY | LINKS
GALLERY
Photography Bo Huang, Montreal/Toronto
Click each image to download
BIOGRAPHY
One of Canada’s outstanding new concert pianists, Wonny Song has been described as “a versatile, intelligent, and deeply musical young pianist” (The Washington Post). Enjoying an exciting international career, Mr. Song continually performs as a soloist and with orchestras worldwide. Recently, he performed encore appearances in the Young Concert Artists Series in New York at Carnegie’s Zankel Hall and in Washington, DC at the Kennedy Center’s Terrace Theater.
This past season, Wonny made his New York concerto debut with the Orchestra of St. Luke’s in Jazz at Lincoln Center’s Rose Theater. He has also appeared with many orchestras including Santa Barbara Chamber Orchestra, Naples Philharmonic Orchestra (FL), Cincinnati Symphony, to name a few. Here in Canada, he has appeared with the Montreal Symphony, Toronto Symphony, Montreal’s Orchestre Métropolitain and National Arts Center Orchestra.
Other highlights of Mr. Song’s career include a solo recital as Canada’s musical ambassador to the 1993 World Expo in Korea and a 1998 performance in Bangkok at the closing ceremony of the Asian Olympic games. Mr. Song returned to Korea in 2005 to perform in the opening concert of Seoul’s new Chungmu Art Hall with the EuroAsian Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Gum Nan-se. Equally at home with chamber repertoire, he has appeared in many festivals and with violinist Alexandre Da Costa formed the Da Costa & Song Duo.
Mr. Song has two critically acclaimed solo CDs, ‘Mussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition and Rachmaninoff's Variations on a Theme of Corelli’ released on the Canadian label XXI-21 Records and the second ‘Clair de lune’ which was released on the Octave Classique label. His third recording is scheduled for release this fall.
A full scholarship recipient, Wonny attended the Curtis Institute of Music and then earned a Bachelor of Music from Montreal University in 1998. Later, Mr. Song studied with Anton Kuerti and Marc Durand at the University of Toronto and at The Glenn Gould School of Music respectively. In 2004, he completed his Doctorate in Music at the University of Minnesota.
(as of October 2009)
REVIEWS
“Wonny Song is a versatile, intelligent and deeply musical young pianist, and his recital at the Kennedy Center Terrace Theater was one of the best programs of the season.”
- THE WASHINGTON POST
If Wonny Song’s piano recital at Zankel Hall on Monday evening left one thing certain, it was that Mr. Song has a big, solid technique – going for sparks and adrenaline rush.
- THE NEW YORK TIMES
“A revelation - Wonny Song. He possesses not only the calm, the technique, and the musicality of a concert musician - in the spirit of the great pianists - but especially, and most importantly, the spiritual dimension of a true artist.”
- LA PRESSE
“Song has a wonderfully poetic touch and a rich, warm sound. Clearly, this is a career on the move.”
- THE STAR TRIBUNE
“Wonny Song est un des plus grands talents de la musique classique et futur maître canadien de renommée mondiale.”
- Monique Deschaussees
“Mr. Song delivered a large-scaled and impressive performance that made it quite reasonable to feel that the best performance ever was the performance we were hearing right then."
- THE CLASSICAL MUSIC GUIDE
PREFERRED CONCERTO LIST
2010-2011
Bach Concerto BWV 1052 & BWV 1056
Beethoven All Concerti & The Choral Fantasy
Chopin Concerto Nos. 1 & 2
Gershwin Concerto in F Major & Rhapsody in Blue
Grieg Concerto
Mathieu Concertino No. 2
Mendelssohn Concerto No. 1 & Concerto for Violin & Piano
Mozart Concerto K. 459, K. 466, K. 467, K. 488 & K. 595
Franz Xavier Mozart Concerto
Prokofiev Concerto Nos. 1 & 3
Rachmaninov Concerto No. 2
Ravel Concerto in G Major
Salieri Concerto in B-flat Major
Schumann Concerto in a minor
Shostakovich Concerto No. 1 (with trumpet)
Recital repertoire available upon request
Master classes and workshops available
Other concerti available upon request
DISCOGRAPHY
Les Grands Classiques d’Edgar (boxset 3) OCT 2 6956
Claire de lune: Les Grands Classiques d’Edgar – CD 6* (boxset 3) OCT 2 6958
Mussorgsky:Pictures at an evening exhibition XXI-CD 2 1553
*also available separately
LINKS
Artist Website
www.wonnysong.com
Recording Label
www.xxi-21.com
www.octavemusique.com
INSTRUMENTALISTS
Piano
Lucille Chung*
Jane Coop
Michael Kim
James Parker
Wonny Song*
Piano Duo
Anagnoson & Kinton
Violin
Martin Beaver
Alexandre Da Costa*
Erika Raum
Cello
Kaori Yamagami
Bassoon
Nadina Mackie Jackson*
ENSEMBLES
Piano Trio
Gryphon Trio
Trumpet & Bassoon Duo
guy&nadina*
Violin & Piano Duo
Da Costa & Song*
NARRATOR
Colin Fox
WORLD MUSIC
Indian Ghazals & Punjabi Folk Songs
Kiran Ahluwalia*
Cuban Music Ensemble
Luis Mario Ochoa Quintet*
SPECIAL PROJECT
Music-as-Theatre
The Schumann Letters*
*First AKAM Season