HYUNG-KI JOO – piano
Hyung-ki Joo devotes his creative energy to making classical music accessible for everyone and explores ways to present concerts in fresh ways for this 21st Century. Besides performing as a pianist and chamber musician with the world’s top orchestras and musicians, Joo has also collaborated with many artists outside of the conventional classical music world. Billy Joel engaged him to arrange and record Joel’s final album of solo piano pieces “Fantasies and Delusions”.
As a composer his works have been performed by the New York Philharmonic, Tonhalle Orchestra Zürich, Komische Oper Berlin Ensemble, Emanuel Ax, Daniel Hope, Yuja Wang, and recorded by artists such as Shani Diluka, Sun Hee You, and the Ahn Piano Trio. His music is published by Universal Edition and Modern Works.
His love for chamber music led to collaborations with Renaud Capuçon, Martin Fröst, Janine Jansen, Mischa Maisky, Julian Rachlin, Belcea Quartet, and members of the Alban Berg Quartet. Following his love of lieder repertoire, he worked with singers such as Dame Felicity Lott and Valentina Nafornita. Future projects include collaborations with singers Mojca Erdmann and Asmik Grigorian.
His duo IGUDESMAN & JOO, a sensation with over 50 million youtube views, performed its hilarious theatrical shows with leading orchestras such as the New York Philharmonic, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, London Philharmonic, and others. Major orchestras have commissioned the duo to create new works, musicians such as Joshua Bell, Gidon Kremer, Viktoria Mullova, Yuja Wang have asked them to create shows for them. They have worked with actors such as John Malkovich, and Sir Roger Moore (in several projects for UNICEF), and are authors of the book, Rette die Welt (Save the World), published by “edition-a”.
Hyung-ki Joo works to inspire the next generation of musicians. In his workshops, he encourages them to explore other directions beyond “classical” performance. Later this year, he will coach and perform with the Luxembourg Youth Philharmonic Orchestra, and MIAGI, the South African Youth Orchestra. An invitation from the Orchestra dell’Accademia Nazionale di Santi Cecilia under Sakari Oramo is a high point of this current season.
He is the recipient of an honorary doctorate degree from Manhattan School of Music and he is a mentor for graduates and students in their last year at the Yehudi Menuhin School. His personal claim for his highest achievement is that he is the fastest tooth-brusher in the world.