Yoonie Han to Make Kennedy Center Debut in Free Concert 11/2

Pianist Yoonie Han will make her Kennedy Center debut on November 2, 2011 at 7:30 p.m., performing Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 4 with the Avanti Orchestra. Presented by the Friday Morning Music Club (FMMC), the free concert is offered as part of Yoonie's award as the winner of the 2011 Washington International Competition. Praised for her "flowing tones, poetic phrasing, and heavenly singing melodies" (Cincinnati Enquirer), the South Korean pianist is quickly earning a reputation as a rising star in the classical music world. Complete program and ticketing information is below.

Just 26 years old, Yoonie Han has already made her Lincoln Center and Carnegie Hall debuts, and performed with leading orchestras around the world. In 2011, she made debuts at Merkin Hall (New York), Boston University's Tanglewood Institute (Lenox, Ma.), and the Bergamo Festival (Italy). Upcoming engagements include her debut with the Berlin Symphony. As a result of her first-prize award in the 2011 Fulbright Concerto Competition, Yoonie will embark upon a U.S. and European recital tour, performing at Steinway & Sons' locations in New York, Los Angeles, Miami, London, Berlin, Hamburg and Munich. She has taken top awards at important international competitions, including the World Piano Competition, among many others. In 2009, Yoonie received the Gawon Music Award as the "most brilliant pianist aged 17 to 31 of any nationality who possesses the most promising potential for global prominence."More information about Yoonie is below, and a complete biography and schedule may be found online at www.yooniehan.com.

In May 2011, Yoonie was awarded the first prize in FMMC's Washington International Competition. In addition to the November 2 Kennedy Center debut, her prize also includes a recital at the Phillips Collection on January 29, 2012, when she plans to perform a program featuring the music of Spanish composers Mompou, Albéniz and Granados, and a return engagement at the Kennedy Center's Terrace Theater on Wednesday, March 28, 2012.

Meet Yoonie
Hailed by the Cincinnati Enquirer for her "flowing tones, poetic phrasing, and heavenly singing melodies," South Korean pianist Yoonie Han is a rising star in the classical world. Yoonie is the first-prize winner of the Washington International Piano Competition (2011), the Fulbright Concerto Competition (2011) and the World Piano Competition (2008).

In the 2011-12 season, Yoonie makes European debuts with the Berliner Symphoniker, the Bergamo Festival in Italy and Salle Cortot in Paris. In the U.S. appearances include debuts at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., Merkin Hall in New York, and Boston University's Tanglewood Institute in Lenox, Ma. In spring 2012, she will embark upon a recital tour a Steinway & Sons' locations in the U.S. and Europe, the result of her winning the 2011 Fulbright Concerto Competition.

Yoonie has performed as a soloist with the Seoul Philharmonic, Buffalo Philharmonic, Helsinki Philharmonic, Houston Symphony, Banff Festival Orchestra, and I Pomeriggi Musicali di Milan, under such maestros as JoAnn Falletta, Leif Segerstam and Lior Shambadal. Her performances were heard on WQXR New York and NPR's "Artist Showcases."

Yoonie received a Bachelor's degree from the Curtis Institute of Music studying with Eleanor Sokoloff, and a Master of Music degree from the Juilliard School as a pupil of Robert McDonald. She is currently pursuing a Doctor of Musical Arts at Stony Brook SUNY and an Artist Diploma at Université de Montréal. Read Yoonie's complete biography and view her schedule at www.yooniehan.com.

Connect with Yoonie

Program and Ticketing Information
The Avanti Orchestra, featuring Yoonie Han
Wednesday, November 2, 2011 at 7:30 p.m.
The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Terrace Theater

Beethoven Piano Concerto No. 4 in G major
Tchaikovsky Symphony No. 5 in E minor

Avanti Orchestra
Pablo Saelzer, music director
Yoonie Han, piano

Public Information: This concert is free and open to the public. Tickets are available on the evening of the performance on a first-come, first-served basis.