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Sang-young Kim

Pianist Sang-young Kim is an artist praised for her deeply introspective approach and pure passion for music, captivating listeners with her immersive charm, emotional impact, and vibrant, lively performances.
She won first prize at the 2008 Arizona Bösendorfer International Competition and was a laureate at the 2013 Queen Elisabeth International Competition. Since then, she has been actively performing on international stages across the United States, Europe, Israel, and Asia.
Influenced by her mother, who majored in piano, Sang-young Kim began playing the piano at the age of three. She studied under Koo Bon-hee, who was her mother's mentor, and later under Kyung-sook Lee at the preparatory school of the Korea National University of Arts and Yonsei University.
At the age of nine, she made her debut with the Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra and went on to win numerous major competitions, including the Ewha & Kyunghyang Music Competition, Chosun Ilbo Music Competition, Segye Ilbo Music Competition, Busan MBC Music Competition, and JoongAng Music Competition.
After moving to the United States at the age of 18 in 2002, Sangyoung Kim continued to stand out in international competitions. She won or placed in several prestigious events, including the NEC Concerto Competition, Heida Hermanns International Music Competition, San Marino International Piano Competition, Usasu Bösendorfer International Piano Competition, and Queen Elisabeth International Music Competition, establishing her foundation as an international concert pianist.
Notably, at the Arizona Bösendorfer International Competition, she won first place along with the Chopin Prize and the Russian Composers Prize. In honor of her performances, the Sangyoung Kim Award is presented annually with the Virtuoso Prize. In 2019, she won first place at the Creative Management Competition, earning her the honor of debuting at Carnegie Hall.
She has performed with orchestras such as the NEC Philharmonia Orchestra, Concord Orchestra, Phoenix Symphony Orchestra, Orchestre Royal de Chambre de Wallonie in Belgium, and the National Orchestra of Belgium, collaborating with renowned conductors like Marin Alsop and Larry Rachleff. She has also performed at prestigious venues, including the IBK Hall, Gumnanse music center, Chopin Hall, Kumho Gallery, Concert house daegu and Kumho Art Hall in Korea, Carnegie Hall, Norris Cultural Center, Jordan Hall, Cleveland Play House Bolten Theater in the United States, Eckhardt-Gramatte Hall and Roza Centre in Canada, Courchevel Music Festival and Music Academy of Villecroze in France, Tel Aviv Museum of Art in Israel, Théâtre Royal de la Monnaie in Belgium, and the Paderewski Piano Academy in Poland. In 2009, she was invited to perform at the Millennium Stage Concert series at the Kennedy Center.
She is also an active ensemble performer, having collaborated with flutist Paula Robison on the Schoenberg's Pierrot Lunaire project, which has been performed several times at Jordan Hall and Harvard University. Additionally, she premiered composer Michael Gandolfi's Resin in Resonance (2008), which was broadcast through WGBH. Recently, she performed David Owens' Piano Sonata for Two Pianos, along with Shakespeare-related works, on seven albums released by Parma Recordings Company, including Joseph Summer's You May Think of Art and his cello sonata. Furthermore, her collaboration with cellist Joseph Gotoff titled The Voice of Cello was released by Spice Classics.
After moving to the United States, Sangyoung Kim studied for a long time at the New England Conservatory under Wha Kyung Byun and Russell Sherman, earning her doctorate. She presented her thesis titled “Beethoven’s Late Compositional Style: the Rosalia and Spiritual Transformation in the Diabelli Variations,” in which she discovered motifs representing spiritual experiences common to Beethoven's later works. She has served as a Visiting Assistant Professor at Bucknell University in Pennsylvania and as a faculty member at the New England Conservatory Preparatory School. Since 2021, she has been working as an assistant professor at Keimyung University, actively contributing to the education of future musicians.