# Seong-Jin Cho

Seong-Jin Cho (Korean: 조성진; born May 28, 1994) is a South Korean concert pianist. He was the winner of the 2015 International Chopin Piano Competition, the first from the country. Since then, he has regularly performed recital programs in major venues and with the world's foremost orchestras as a soloist.
Cho signed with Deutsche Grammophon in 2016, under which he has released seven studio albums and one live recording. He is the Artist in Residence of the Berlin Philharmonic for the 2024–25 season.

## Early life and education

Cho was born in Seoul, South Korea, the only child of non-musical parents; his father was an engineer. At six years old, he began studying both the piano and the violin. Though he appeared to have more natural facility on the latter, he developed a stronger liking for the piano, and gave his first public piano recital at age eleven. After being identified through a musical prodigy development program at the Seoul Arts Center, he began studying under Sook-Ryeon Park at Sunchon National University and Soo-Jung Shin at Seoul National University.
He attended the Yewon School, a private middle school for art education, during which he won First Prize at both the Moscow International Fryderyk Chopin Competition for Young Pianists (2008) and the Hamamatsu International Piano Competition (2009). Cho then attended Seoul Arts High School for two years, during which he placed third at the 2011 International Tchaikovsky Competition and began performing regularly with Myung-whun Chung and the Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra.
Cho moved to Paris in 2012 to study at the Conservatoire de Paris with Michel Béroff. While there, Cho placed third at the 2014 Arthur Rubinstein International Piano Master Competition and first prize at the 2015 International Chopin Piano Competition.

## Career

Cho constantly tours the world to work with orchestras and give piano recitals in Europe, North America and Asia. He performs more than 100 times a year and has a busy schedule pre-booked at least three years ahead. As a soloist, Cho frequently works with prestigious European orchestras, including the Berliner Philharmoniker, Vienna Philharmonic, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Orchestre de Paris, Philharmonia Orchestra, London Symphony Orchestra and London Philharmonic Orchestra. He also performs regularly with prestigious North American orchestras such as the New York Philharmonic, Boston Symphony, Chicago Symphony, Philadelphia and Cleveland. He has collaborated with eminent conductors such as Lorin Maazel, Simon Rattle, Kirill Petrenko, Vladimir Ashkenazy, Myung-Whun Chung, Gustavo Dudamel, Valery Gergiev, Vasily Petrenko, Mikhail Pletnev, Esa-Pekka Salonen, Yuri Temirkanov, Gianandrea Noseda, Yannick Nézet-Séguin and Andris Nelsons.
Cho is an active recitalist and frequently sells out concerts at the world's most prestigious concert halls including the Stern Auditorium of Carnegie Hall, Berliner Philharmonie, Musikverein, Concertgebouw Amsterdam, Prinzregententheater München, Wiener Konzerthaus, Wigmore Hall in London and Suntory Hall Tokyo, just to name a few. He has also been invited to numerous music festivals such as the Verbier Festival, Menuhin Festival Gstaad, Rheingau Musik Festival, BBC Proms, Tanglewood Festival, Salzburg Festival, Edinburg Festival and Lucerne Festival.
In 2017, Cho made his debut with the Berliner Philharmoniker under Simon Rattle to perform Ravel Piano Concerto in G.
In 2021, Cho gave the world premiere of Allegro in D, a newly found Mozart work.
In 2022, Cho debuted with the Vienna Philharmonic, as a replacement for Denis Matsuev, with Yannick Neget-Seguin. Cho performed the Rachmaninoff Piano Concerto No. 2 and has been invited to perform with the orchestra on the Beethoven Piano Concerto No. 3 in October 2024.
Cho is 2024–25 Artist in Residence of the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra performing the Shostakovich Piano Concerto No. 1, Beethoven Piano Concerto No. 5 and chamber music with members of the orchestra.

## Reviews

Chicago Tribune noted on Cho's 2025 performance of Prokofiev Piano Concerto No.2:
   "He pulled a silvery, bladelike sound from the Orchestra Hall Steinway — skillful in itself, as the piano’s default tends towards the ripe and full."
On his 2025 Carnegie Hall recital with a program of complete Ravel solo piano works, Suzan Stempleski of Backtrack noted:
   "Hearing Cho, with his impeccable technique and acute musical sensitivity, play the whole of this magnificent repertoire over the course of a single evening, deepened one’s appreciation of the beauty and originality of Ravel’s pianistic oeuvre."
On his BBC Proms performance of Beethoven Piano Concerto No. 4, The Guardian reviewed:
   "Cho's acclaimed virtuosity was clear, his passagework gleamingly precise, his sound ranging from staggering softness to luminous Steinway shine."
Bachtrack reviewer Chris Garlick commented on Cho's Schumann Symphonic Etudes:
   "Cho revelled in the charm and endless variety of textures and dancelike rhythms, rising to the occasion at every turn, an inspired performance of a work that demands nothing less."
Cho has been described as a "poet on the keyboard" by Sir Simon Rattle.

## Personal life

After the Chopin Competition, he met Krystian Zimerman in Tokyo who toured him around the city. Zimerman has provided career advice to Cho since then. Cho's first classical album that he purchased as a child was Zimerman's Chopin Four Ballades. Cho idolised Radu Lupu, as he revealed in the interview, when they met in Paris during a dinner party, they became close and Cho was invited to Lupu's house in Lausanne several times.
Cho moved to Berlin in 2018 after briefly visiting the city for business occasion. He was attracted by the city's cosmopolitan culture and many beautiful parks in the city. Cho considers music not as a job but what he likes, and enjoys performing constantly while he tries to expand his repertoire by adding at least two new piano concertos and a one-year recital program worth of solo piano pieces each year. He has been a big fan of Mahler Symphonies since he was in the 7th grade.

## Awards

* 2008: International Fryderyk Chopin Competition for Young Pianists – First Prize
* 2009: Hamamatsu International Piano Competition – First Prize
* 2011: International Tchaikovsky Competition (piano) – Third Prize
* 2014: Arthur Rubinstein International Piano Master Competition – Third Prize
* 2015: XVII International Chopin Piano Competition – First Prize
* 2023: Samsung Ho-Am Prize in the Arts

## Discography

Seong-Jin Cho's first album was his Chopin Piano Competition-winning performance released as a live recording immediately after the conclusion of the competition:
* Winner of the 17th International Chopin Piano Competition Warsaw 2015, Seong-Jin Cho, Deutsche Grammophon, 6 November 2015
In 2016, Cho signed a recording contract with Deutsche Grammophon and has released eight studio albums:
* Chopin: Piano Concerto No. 1 & Ballades, Seong-Jin Cho with London Symphony Orchestra & Gianandrea Noseda, Deutsche Grammophon, 25 November 2016
* Debussy: Images / Children's Corner / Suite Bergamasque, Seong-Jin Cho, Deutsche Grammophon, 17 November 2017
* Mozart: Piano Concerto No. 20, K. 466; Piano Sonatas, K. 281 and 332, Seong-Jin Cho with Chamber Orchestra Of Europe & Yannick Nézet-Séguin, Deutsche Grammophon, 16 November 2018
* The Wanderer Schubert Berg Liszt, Seong-Jin Cho, Deutsche Grammophon, 8 May 2020
* Chopin: Piano Concerto No. 2 · Scherzi, Seong-Jin Cho with London Symphony Orchestra & Gianandrea Noseda, Deutsche Grammophon, 27 August 2021
* The Handel Project: Handel-Suites & Brahms-Variations, Seong-Jin Cho, Deutsche Grammophon, 23 February 2023
* Ravel the Complete Solo Piano Works, Seong-Jin Cho, Deutsche Grammophon, 17 January 2025
* Ravel Piano Concertos, Seong-Jin Cho with Boston Symphony Orchestra & Andris Nelsons, Deutsche Grammophon, 21 February 2025
In addition, Cho recorded Mozart's newly found work, collaborated with Matthias Goerne for a song album and has released six digital singles:
* Schubert 6 Moments musicaux, Op. 94, D. 780, III. Allegro moderato, Seong-Jin Cho, Deutsche Grammophon, 21 Aug 2020
* Mozart Allegro in D major, K 626b/16, Seong-Jin Cho, Deutsche Grammophon, 29 Jan 2021
* Im Abendrot (at Sunset) – Songs by Wagner, Pfitzner, Strauss, Matthias Goerne and Seong-Jin Cho, Deutsche Grammophon, 16 Apr 2021
* Liszt Consolations, S. 172: No. 3 Lento placido in D-flat major, Seong-Jin Cho, Deutsche Grammophon, 30 Apr 2021
* Schubert Der Wanderer, D. 489, Matthias Goerne and Seong-Jin Cho, Deutsche Grammophon, 28 May 2021
* Brahms 6 Pieces for Piano, Op. 118: VI. Intermezzo in E Flat Minor. Andante, largo e mesto, Seong-Jin Cho, Deutsche Grammophon, 25 Feb 2022