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The South Korean violinist, Kyung-Wha Chung, was born as the middle of the seven children in her family. Her father was an exporter, and her mother a pianist and guitarist. She began piano studies at age 4, and violin studies at age 7, where she proved more sympathetic to the violin. he studied with Shin Sang Chul. Instantly mesmerised by its tone, she was swiftly recognised as a child prodigy, making her concert debut aged 9 with the Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra, playing the Felix Mendelssohn's Violin Concerto in E minor. As time progressed she steadily won most of the famous music competitions in Korea. With her siblings, Chung toured around the country, performing music both as soloist and as a part of an ensemble. When she was 12 years old, she toured Japan. As the children became famous in Korea, her mother felt that it was too small a country for her children to further their musical careers, and she decided to move to the USA. All of Chung's siblings played classical instruments and three of them would become professional musicians. Her younger brother, Myung-Whun Chung is a conductor and a pianist, and her older sister, Myung-wha Chung is a cellist and teacher at the Korean National University of Arts in Seoul. The three of them have subsequently performed professionally in their later careers as the Chung Trio. At age 13, she arrived in the USA. She followed her older flautist sister Myung-Soh Chung in attending the Juilliard School in New York, where she studied with Ivan Galamian (graduating with violin diploma in 1969), with whom she worked until 1971.
In 1967, Kyung-Wha Chung and Pinchas Zukerman were the joint winners of the Edgar Leventritt Competition, the first time for such an outcome in the history of the competition. This prize led to several engagements in North America, such as with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, New York Philharmonic Orchestra and Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra. She substituted for Nathan Milstein for his White House Gala when he became indisposed. Her next big opportunity came in 1970 as a substitute for Itzhak Perlman, playing the Tchaikovsky Concerto with the London Symphony Orchestra at London's Royal Festival Hall in her London debut. The success of this engagement led to many other performances in the UK and an exclusive recording contract with Decca/London. Her debut album with André Previn and London Symphony Orchestra, which coupled Tchaikovsky and Sibelius concertos, brought her international attention, including the top recommendation in the BBC Radio 3's Building a Library programme which compared the various recordings of the Sibelius. Shortly thereafter, she began to expand her circle of teachers by working with Josef Gingold, Szymon Goldberg, Paul Makanowitzky, and Joseph Szigeti.
Kyung-Wha Chung continued to perform with the world’s greatest orchestras, including the Berliner Philharmoniker, Wiener Philharmoniker, London Philharmonic Orchestra, Boston Symphony Orchestra and Chicago Symphony Orchestra, among others. Throughout her career, she has enjoyed working alongside the world’s finest conductors, including Claudio Abbado, Daniel Barenboim, Charles Dutoit, Bernard Haitink, Lorin Maazel, Riccardo Muti, Sir André Previn, Sir Simon Rattle, Sir Georg Solti and Klaus Tennstedt. Her brother, Myung-Whun Chung, has also been the acting conductor when she has performed as soloist. Her chamber music partnerships have included high calibre pianists such as Peter Frankl, Itamar Golan, Kevin Kenner, Stephen Kovacevich, Radu Lupu, and Krystian Zimerman. As members of the Chung Trio, she and her siblings became the United Nations' first goodwill anti-drug ambassadors for their concert-giving support of anti-drug campaigns in Rome, New York, Chicago, and other cities of the world.
In 1997, Kyung-Wha Chung celebrated the 30th anniversary of her international debut at Barbican Centre in London and in her hometown of Seoul, South Korea. At the turn of the 21st century she maintained a rigorous touring schedule, performing more than 100 times a year. She was named one of the most prominent violinists of the latter part of the 20th century by The Sunday Times of England, and took eight curtain calls in the mid-1990's when she played Béla Bartók's Violin Concerto No. 2 at a concert at the Champs Elysees Theater in Paris, organized to commemorate the 70th birthday of Pierre Boulez. The performance, which was recorded by EMI, was critically acclaimed and awarded the Grammophon Prize.
Kyung Wha Chung has recorded numerous award-winning albums, and her extensive discography reflects the impressive breadth of her repertoire. Following her recording contract with Decca/London, in 1988 Chung subsequently signed for a period with EMI Classics, and also released recordings with RCA and Deutsche Grammophon. Her commercial recordings include core repertoire violin concerti, including L.v. Beethoven, Alban Berg, Bruch, Edward Elgar, Felix Mendelssohn, Camille Saint-Saëns, Sibelius, Tchaikovsky, and William Walton. She has recorded chamber works such as the Johannes Brahms violin sonatas, César Franck & Debussy sonatas, and Ottorino Respighi & Strauss sonatas (with Krystian Zimerman, a recording which earned her a Gramophone Award for Best Chamber Recording). Other recordings include Antonio Vivaldi's Four Seasons, which was selected as Gramophone's editorial choice, and the J. Brahms violin concerto with the Wiener Philharmoniker under Simon Rattle.
Kyung-Wha Chung is recognised throughout the world as one of the finest violinists of her generation. She has been literally showered with recognition for her sparkling, energetic personality, and for her concentrated, inspiring, and nearly technically perfect performances. Her dazzling and probing artistry has made her a much-acclaimed performer throughout her forty-year career. Lauded for her passion, her musicality, and the intense excitement that she brings to her performances, her uniquely expressive interpretations of the violin literature have established her as an artist of the very highest stature.
Following an injury to her hand, Kyung-Wha Chung stopped performing in 2005. During this time away from the stage, she found a new calling as a teacher, joining in 2007 the faculty of her alma mater, The Juilliard School, as a member of the faculty of the school's Music and Pre-College Divisions. In addition to this, she is Chair Professor for Music at Ewha University in Se, and Charity Ambassador for Better World (an active patron for their Child Rescue Project in Africa). She is also the Artistic Director of the Great Mountains Music Festival & School, based in South Korea.
Five years after her retirement, 2010 marked Chung’s triumphant return to the Asian stage. Greeted by enthusiastic audiences and the highest critical acclaim, in 2013 she embarked on an extensive Asian tour of fifteen cities, including Seoul, Tokyo and Beijing. Kyung-Wha Chung made her much anticipated return to the European concert platform in December 2014, with a national UK tour culminating in a sensational sell-out recital at the Royal Festival Hall, London. She opened the prestigious Verbier Festival in July 2016, performing the Johannes Brahms Violin Concerto with the Verbier Festival Orchestra and Charles Dutoit, as well as Gabriel Fauré and Prokofiev Violin Sonatas in recital with regular sonata partner Kevin Kenner. She has signed an exclusive international record contract with Warner Classics, the first release of which - J.S. Bach's Solo Sonatas & Partitas - was released in October 2016.
Kyung-Wha Chung has received many prizes and top honours - including the Medal of Civil Merit from the South Korean government, and the Ho Am Prize for the Arts in 2011 in recognition of her 40-year-long career as a violinist and educator.
Kyung-Wha Chung has two sons, Frederick and Eugene, from her past marriage to the British businessman Geoffrey Leggett. Their 1984 marriage ended in divorce. |
