2024 Reflections

2024 Reflections : A Year of Teaching, Touring and Musical Milestone

While immersed in an intensive teaching schedule at Peabody, I also prepared for a spring tour that included masterclasses at the Manhattan School of Music and UCLA, and a recital series in three personally meaningful venues: Schloss Gödens (May 17), the Bösendorfer Salon in Vienna (May 21), and Palais Lichtenau in Potsdam (May 22).

A particularly emotional highlight was the Brahms D-minor Concerto with the Incheon Philharmonic on June 21 at the Incheon Arts Center—exactly fifty years after my debut with the same orchestra in December 1974 under the late Professor Jung-Suk Kim.

The summer brought a rich journey across the U.S., where I participated in six festivals—Art of Piano (San Francisco), Rebecca Penneys Piano (Tampa), Bowdoin (Maine), Adamant (New Hampshire), Atlantic International Piano Festival (Maine), and Bay Piano Fest (San Francisco). Alongside solo recitals and chamber performances, I offered masterclasses and lessons. Experiencing the contrasting cultural energies of both coasts was especially enriching.

The year concluded with a deeply rewarding faculty recital at Peabody in December, joined by esteemed colleagues Hyunah Yu Brody (soprano), Soovin Kim (violin), Milena Pajaro van de Stadt (viola), and Edward Arron (cello). Together we performed songs and chamber works by Wolf, Brahms, and Schumann—an inspiring close to an unforgettable 2024.