Myung-Whun Chung

Myung-whun Chung (born 22 January 1953, Seoul) is a Korean-born pianist and conductor. His sisters, violinist Kyung-wha Chung, and cellist Myung-wha Chung, and he at one time performed together as the Chung Trio. He was a prize winner in the 1974 Tchaikovsky piano competition. He studied conducting at the Mannes College of Music and the Juilliard School. He also studied piano with Maria Curcio, the last and favourite pupil of Artur Schnabel. He w... more

Myung-whun Chung (born 22 January 1953, Seoul) is a Korean-born pianist and conductor. His sisters, violinist Kyung-wha Chung, and cellist Myung-wha Chung, and he at one time performed together as the Chung Trio. He was a prize winner in the 1974 Tchaikovsky piano competition. He studied conducting at the Mannes College of Music and the Juilliard School. He also studied piano with Maria Curcio, the last and favourite pupil of Artur Schnabel. He was an assistant conductor at the Los Angeles Philharmonic during the music directorship of Carlo Maria Giulini. In Europe, Chung was chief conductor of the Saarland Radio Symphony Orchestra from 1984 to 1990. He was principal guest conductor of the Teatro Communale, Firenze from 1987 to 1992. He has conducted virtually all the prominent European and American orchestras and made his debut at the Metropolitan Opera in New York in 1986 with Simon Boccanegra. At the end of the 1987-88 seasons, he received the Premio Abbiati award from Italian... less