South Korean classical pianist Sejin Yoon is a soloist and chamber musician. Her playing is particularly known for its delicacy, sensitivity and virtuosity. She began her studies abroad in the UK at the age of twelve, where she was immersed in a cultural melting pot and exposed to different teaching styles, all of which have greatly influenced her approach to music and helped her develop a personal passion for classical music education as well as performance.
Sejin is currently an undergraduate student at the Royal Academy of Music with a full scholarship supported by the Associated Board of Royal Schools of Music (ABRSM), studying under Professor Ian Fountain. She was the guest soloist at the Cayman Arts Festival in April 2022, where she gave a recital and several masterclasses. The following November, she was selected to participate in The Sir Elton John Global Exchange Programme, where she joined The Glenn Gould School of The Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto. Participating in prestigious festivals formed an essential part of her journey as a pianist, fostering her interest in diverse approaches to classical music. In September 2023, she was at the Sommerakademie Cervo, where she performed Beethoven Piano Concerto No.1 alongside the student orchestra conducted by Ian Fountain. She also has had masterclasses with pianists such as Vovka Ashkenazy, Christopher Elton, Steven Osborne, Yevgeny Sudbin, and Daejin Kim.
An enthusiastic chamber musician and a founding member of the Lisson Trio, Sejin represented the Royal Academy of Music in the Cavatina Intercollegiate Chamber Music Competition at Wigmore Hall with the trio in May this year. Her desire to share music with others extended beyond just audience members. Working closely with other musicians was just as crucial to her, which led her to collaborate with a broad range of instrumentalists. She has participated in masterclasses with Adrian Brendel, Amihai Grosz, Randall Goosby and Roger Vignoles.
She first emerged as a young artist at the age of nine, as she was the youngest pianist to perform at the Kumho Prodigy Concert Series, showcasing repertoire including Liszt, Chopin and Czerny. She appeared soon after as a soloist performing Shostakovich Piano Concerto No.2 with the Gwacheon Symphony Orchestra. Competitions formed a significant part of her time in Korea, and she has won the Eumaksekye National Final and Ewha Kyunghyang Daily Concour, to name a few. Even from a young age, Sejin took concert programming seriously, exploring a wide range of repertoire. Highlights from her early performances include the “Four Seasons” by Tchaikovsky which featured in her second recital at Kumho, as well as the complete Liszt Paganini etudes in her last recital before moving abroad. At the age of twelve, she was invited to perform with the Wuhan Philharmonic Orchestra in China playing Ravel Piano Concerto in G major.
In 2015, Sejin received a full scholarship to study at Wells Cathedral School with Professor John Byrne. She always strived to make classical music more accessible, and attending an international music school enabled her to do so through various performance opportunities and reaching a wider range of audiences from a young age. She was one of five keyboard category finalists for BBC Young Musician 2020, broadcasted on BBC Four. During her time at Wells, she was the winner of the Wellington School Steinway Competition, Tunbridge Wells Interim Competition, Franz Liszt Centre Competition, Newport Virtuosi International Music Competition and the WCS concerto competition, where she performed with conductor Chloé van Soeterstède in Wells Cathedral. Sejin continues to nurture her relationship with her long-standing audience in Wells, as she has been invited to be one of the first representatives of the alumni artists, and recently performed at their inaugural Old Wellensian Rising Start Recital Series launch concert.
