Yeol Eum Son
Piano
Yeol Eum Son is known for poetic elegance, expressive nuance and electrifying contrasts in performances that span repertoire from Bach and Mozart to Shchedrin and Kapustin. Praised for her refined artistry and flawless technical control, she is in high demand worldwide as a recitalist, concerto soloist and chamber musician, collaborating with conductors including Antonio Pappano, Roberto González-Monjas, Jonathon Heyward, Ryan Bancroft, Maxim Emelyanychev, Jaime Martín, Andrew Manze, Alexander Shelley and Omer Meir Welber.
Her 2025-26 season features debuts with the Danish National Symphony, Swedish Radio Symphony, London Philharmonic and São Paulo State Symphony orchestras, alongside returns to the BBC Symphony, Scottish Chamber and Singapore Symphony. In summer 2025, she made her New York orchestral debut with the Festival Orchestra of Lincoln Center and appeared at the Colorado Music Festival following a collaboration with the Colorado Symphony earlier this season.
Son's recent North American and Canadian appearances include collaborations with the Los Angeles and Naples philharmonics; Baltimore, Detroit and St. Louis symphonies; Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra; and Ottawa's NAC Orchestra. International highlights include the London Symphony, Budapest Festival Orchestra, Dresden Philharmonic, Finnish Radio Symphony, Oslo Philharmonic, and major orchestras across Australia and New Zealand. Recent recital highlights include the Edinburgh International Festival (Scotland), Duszniki-Zdrój Chopin Festival (Poland), Mänttä Music Festival (Finland), and the Rosendal and Risør Chamber Music Festivals (Norway).
Renowned for her Mozart interpretations, Son joined the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields and Sir Neville Marriner in 2016, performing the Piano Concerto No. 21 for his final recording. Her live Tchaikovsky Competition performance of the same work has been viewed nearly 23 million times on YouTube—a record for Mozart on the platform.
Her Naïve recordings include Ravel: Piano Concertos – Bach/Wittgenstein, Love Music with Svetlin Roussev, and Mozart's complete piano sonatas, as well as albums of Berg, Prokofiev, Stravinsky and Kapustin.
Born in Wonju, South Korea, Son studied at Korea National University of Arts and with Arie Vardi in Hannover. She won silver medals at both the 2009 Van Cliburn and 2011 International Tchaikovsky Competitions.
