William Youn, born in Korea in 1982, is one of the most promising pianists of his generation. He began his studies in Seoul, followed by a move to the USA at the New England Conservatory in Boston at the age of 13. At 18, he was accepted into Karl-Heinz Kämmerling’s legendary pianist class at the Hanover University of Music. As a scholarship holder at the Piano Academy Lake Como, William Youn worked with artists such as Dmitri Bashkirov, Andreas Staier, William Grant Naboré and Menahem Pressler.
Today William Youn performs internationally from Berlin via Seoul to New York with major orchestras, including Cleveland Orchestra, Munich Philharmonic Orchestra, Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, Munich Chamber Orchestra, National Orchestra of Belgium, Mariinsky Theater and Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra, and makes regular music appearances in renowned concert halls, including the Elbphilharmonie Hamburg, Pierre Boulez Saal Berlin, Prinzregententheater Munich, Konzerthaus Wien, Wigmore Hall London, Toppan Hall Tokyo and Seoul Arts Center, or at festivals such as the Schubertiade Schwarzenberg, Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival, Rheingau Music Festival, Heidelberger Frühling and MDR Musiksommer.
On the historic fortepiano William Youn played at venues, such as the Mecklenburg Vorpommern Festival, Mozart Festival in Würzburg and Schwetzingen SWR Festival.
A keen chamber musician, William Youn enjoys close collaborations with violist Nils Mönkemeyer, clarinetist Sabine Meyer, cellist Julian Steckel, violinists Carolin Widmann and Veronika Eberle, the Aris Quartet and the author Ferdinand von Schirach.
William Youn’s extensive discography includes recordings on Sony Classical, Oehms Classics and ECM. Most recently, after several recordings with Nils Mönkemeyer and his solo album »Schumann – Liszt – Schubert«, he has started a new project for Sony Classical in 2020 to record all the Schubert piano sonatas. His Mozart sonata cycle, previously released by Oehms Classics was highly praised in the press and awarded numerous prizes.
In the 2022/23 season, William Youn made his debut with the Vienna State Ballet at the Vienna State Opera with Johann Sebastian Bach’s »Goldberg-Variationen« for Heinz Spoerli’s eponymous ballet.