Married Pianists Won Jae-yeon and Kim Soo-yeon to Hold First Duo Recital in South Korea

Married pianists Won Jae-yeon and Kim Soo-yeon are set to captivate audiences with their first duo recital in South Korea on August 29 at the Seoul Arts Center. The concert, organized by Stage One, promises a rich program featuring works by Mozart, Debussy, Schubert, Arvo Pärt, and Gershwin.

Both pianists have achieved international acclaim individually. Won Jae-yeon secured fifth place at the Long-Thibaud Competition in 2012 and second place at the Busoni International Piano Competition in 2017. Kim Soo-yeon made history as the first East Asian to win the piano category at the Montreal International Music Competition in 2021. While they have collaborated on stage before, including a performance of Bartók's Sonata for Two Pianos and Percussion at the Pyeongchang Music Festival last year and Rachmaninoff's Symphonic Dances at the Rendez-vous de la Musique Festival, this recital marks their official debut as a piano duo.

The program opens with Mozart's Duettino Concertante. It will be followed by Mozart's Fantasia in F minor and Debussy's En Blanc et Noir. The second half features Schubert's Fantasia in F minor, Pärt's Magnificat, and Gershwin's Cuban Overture for Two Pianos. Notably, Schubert's Fantasia holds special significance for the couple, as it was the first piece they began practicing together, having performed it previously in Munich and Brussels.

"For us, who have always stood alone on stage as soloists, this moment of meeting the audience together with a new format and new works feels special and like a new beginning," the couple shared. "We want to convey the unique charm of piano duets through the dialogue and conflict that arise from showing our different tonal colors and characters as they are, and the delicate harmony we achieve within that."

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For us, who have always stood alone on stage as soloists, this moment of meeting the audience together with a new format and new works feels special and like a new beginning. We want to convey the unique charm of piano duets through the dialogue and conflict that arise from showing our different tonal colors and characters as they are, and the delicate harmony we achieve within that.