Pianist Yeol Eum Son will perform Tuesday, April 9, for the final installment of the 2018-2019 Piano Series at the University of Alabama at Birmingham.
The UAB Piano Series, presented by the College of Arts and Sciences’ Department of Music, brings the world’s finest pianists to Birmingham. Distinguished Professor of Piano and Artist-in-Residence Yakov Kasman, a Van Cliburn medalist, directs the series.
On the program for Yeol Eum Son’s 7 p.m. performance are 24 Preludes op. 28 by Chopin and 13 Preludes op. 32 by Rachmaninoff. The performance will be in UAB’s Alys Stephens Performing Arts Center, Reynolds-Kirschbaum Recital Hall. Tickets are $15, $5 for students through grade 12 and UAB employees; free to UAB students. Call 205-975-2787 or purchase tickets at AlysStephens.org. Visit the UAB Department of Music online at www.uab.edu/cas/music.
Yeol Eum Son’s graceful and timeless interpretations, crystalline touch and versatile, thrilling performances have caught the attention of audiences worldwide. Praised for her widely eclectic concerti repertoire, ranging from Bach and all-Mozart to Shchedrin and Gershwin, her recent concerto highlights include appearances with the Gürzenich-Orchester Köln, Konzerthausorchester Berlin and Bergen Philharmonic under the baton of Dmitrij Kitajenko, a debut Paris date with Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France under Mikko Franck and Mariinsky Theatre Orchestra under Valery Gergiev, among others.
A sensitive, emotional and powerful pianist, Yeol Eum Son gives frequent solo and chamber music performances across the globe. In the 2017-2018 season, Yeol Eum Son made distinguished United Kingdom debuts in Birmingham with the CBSO and Omer Meir Wellber (Mozart Piano Concerto No. 21) and at London’s Cadogan Hall with the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields (Mozart Piano Concerti No. 8 and No. 21). Her London debut coincided with the release of a highly acclaimed all-Mozart recording featuring Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 21 with the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields under Sir Neville Marriner, for whom it was the very last recording. According to The London Times, Yeol Eum Son is “a model of clarity and fleetness,” while Gramophone called the recording “an uncommonly fine Mozartian debut.”
Debut highlights of the 2018-2019 season feature engagements at Grafenegg Festival with The Tonkunstler Orchestra (Mozart Piano Concerto No. 20) and Dresdner Philharmoniker (Prokofiev Piano Concerto No.2) under Kitajenko. Yeol Eum Son also makes her Swiss concerto debut with Orchestre de la Suisse Romande under Susanna Mälkki (Mozart Piano Concerto No. 23).