Minhyun Cho

Minhyun Cho

Republic of Korea

28 y.o.

Born in 1990 in South Korea, Minhyun Cho began his studies as a pianist at the age of 14. He attended the Busan High School of Arts where his talent was praised and received many outstanding awards throughout his time at the school. In 2007 Cho attended the Bad Reichenhall Summer Academy in Germany and decided to go to Germany for further studies. He attended the Hochschule für Musik Detmold in the class of Prof. Bob Versteegh. In 2014 he got his Bachelor of Music with highest distinction and later, in 2016, he got his Master of Music.

Cho was a prizewinner at the 2012 Interpretations Competition of the Alumni Association and the AStA of the Hochschule für Musik Detmold “French Piano Music”. In the same year he won the special prize at the International Piano Competition “Stefano Marizza”. In 2015 he was a prizewinner at the International Piano Competition Troisdorf and in 2019 he won the 1st prize at the International Music Competition Città di Villafranca in Verona. He was also selected to be a competitor at the 2015 Hamamatsu International Piano Competition and at the 2018 Geneva International Competition.

During his studies Cho attended many masterclasses with renowned pianists as Jerome Rose, Bernd Götzke, Matti Raekallio and Ivan Klansky. Since 2015 Cho has been a scholarship holder of the Werner-Richard – Dr. Carl Dörken Foundation. He actively performs as a soloist at many international festivals (Euregio Music Festival in Tecklenburg, Monschau Music Festival with the French Chamber Orchestra).

In 2017 Cho performed at the New Year’s Concert with the Ruhrstadt Orchestra. He is currently working on his Konzertexamen at the Hochschule für Musik Detmold under the direction of Prof. Elena Margolina-Hait.

Envisaged programme

First round

Beethoven: Sonate Op.110

Debussy:  from Prelude book.1 Nr.6 Nr.7 Nr.12 

Second round

György Kurtág: 8 Piano pieces 

Liszt: Vallee d’Obermann

Ravel: Gaspard de la nuit

Semifinal

B. Bartok: Piano Sonata BB 88 (Sz. 80)

F. Schubert: Piano Sonata D. 960

Final

L. van Beethoven: Piano Concerto No. 4 in G major, Op. 58