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Myung-whun Chung

{{short description|South Korean pianist and conductor}}

{{for|the professional StarCraft player of the same name|Jung Myung-hoon}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2021}}

{{family name hatnote|Chung||lang=Korean}}

{{Infobox person

| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1953|01|22|df=yes}}

| birth_place = Seoul, South Korea

| nationality = South Korean

| occupation = Pianist, conductor

| relatives = Sisters Kyung-wha Chung and Myung-wha Chung

| awards = File:ROK_Order_of_Cultural_Merit_Geum-gwan_(1st_Class)_ribbon.PNG Geumgwan Order of Cultural Merit (1996)

| module = {{Infobox Korean name|child=yes

| hangul = 정명훈

| hanja = 鄭明勳

| rr = Jeong Myeonghun

| mr = Chŏng Myŏnghun

| koreanipa = tɕʌŋ.mjʌŋhun}}

}}

Myung-whun Chung ({{Korean|hangul=정명훈}}; born 22 January 1953) is a South Korean conductor and pianist.

Career

=Performer=

Chung studied piano with Maria Curcio{{cite news|author=Niel Immelman|date=2009-04-13|title=Maria Curcio|work=The Guardian|url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2009/apr/14/obituary-maria-curcio|access-date=2020-05-28}} and won joint second-prize in the 1974 International Tchaikovsky Competition. He performed in the Chung Trio with his sisters, violinist Kyung-wha Chung and cellist Myung-wha Chung.{{cite news|author=Event Guide|date=12 August 2004|title=Chung Trio Re-unites as 'Trio of Filial Devotion'|work=The Chosun Ilbo|url=http://english.chosun.com/w21data/html/news/200408/200408120049.html|url-status=dead|access-date=2007-09-07|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081009023732/http://english.chosun.com/w21data/html/news/200408/200408120049.html|archive-date=9 October 2008}}

=Conducting and musical direction=

Chung studied conducting at the Mannes College of Music and the Juilliard School. He has conducted virtually all the prominent European and American orchestras, including the Metropolitan Opera in New York, the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the Chicago Philharmonic, the Berlin Philharmonic, and the Vienna Philharmonic, among others.

Chung was chief conductor of the Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Saarbrücken from 1984 to 1990, and principal guest conductor of the Teatro Comunale Florence from 1987 to 1992.{{cite news | author=Ben Mattison | title=Report: Myung-whun Chung Is Top Candidate to Lead Seoul Philharmonic | url=http://www.playbillarts.com/news/article/1235.html | work=Playbill Arts | date=22 January 2005 | access-date=10 January 2008}} At the end of the 1987–88 season, he received the Premio Abbiati award from Italian critics, and the following year was awarded the Arturo Toscanini prize. Chung was the Paris Opera's music director from 1989 to 1994, during which time he opened the inaugural season of the then-new Opéra Bastille. For the opening, he performed Berlioz's complete Les Troyens to high praise from critics. In 1991, the Association of French Theatres and Music Critics named him "Artist of the year" and in 1992 he received the Legion d'Honneur for his contribution to the Paris Opéra. An exclusive recording artist for Deutsche Grammophon since 1990, many of his numerous recordings have won international prizes and awards. These include Olivier Messiaen's Turangalîla-Symphonie and Éclairs sur l'au-delà…, Verdi's Otello, Berlioz's Symphonie fantastique, and Shostakovich's Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk with the Bastille Opera Orchestra; he has also performed a series of Dvořák's symphonies and serenades with the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, a series dedicated to great sacred music with the Orchestra dell'Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, including an award-winning recording of Duruflé's and Fauré's Requiems with Cecilia Bartoli and Bryn Terfel.

In 1995 he was honoured three times at the French Victoires de la Musiques Classiques, and was also named Meilleur Chef d'Orchestre de l'Année. He directed the world premiere of Messiaen's last work: the Concert à quatre for four soloists and orchestra, which the composer had dedicated to Myung-whun Chung and the Orchestre de la Bastille.

He took the role of artistic director at the Asia Philharmonic Orchestra in 1997 and at the Orchestre philharmonique de Radio France in 2000. The Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra made Chung a Special Artistic Advisor in 2001, its Honorary Conductor Laureate in 2010, and its Honorary Music Director from 2016. Chung became the first principal guest conductor in the history of the Staatskapelle Dresden in 2012. He was the Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra's principal conductor between 2005{{cite news|author=Andrew Clements|date=4 March 2006|title=Concert Review: LSO/Chung|work=The Guardian|url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2006/mar/04/classicalmusicandopera|access-date=7 September 2007}}{{cite news|author=Ben Mattison|date=2 February 2005|title=Myung-whun Chung Named Music Director of Seoul Philharmonic|work=Playbill Arts|url=http://www.playbillarts.com/news/article/1235.html|access-date=10 January 2008}} and 2015.{{cite news|date=2015-12-29|title=Maestro Chung Myung-whun announces departure from SPO|work=The Korea Herald|url=http://www.koreaherald.com/view.php?ud=20151229001070|access-date=2020-05-28}} During this period the Seoul Philharmonic became the first Asian orchestra to sign a major-label record deal{{cite news|author=Martin Cullingford|date=2011-04-13|title=Seoul Philharmonic signs to DG|work=Gramophone|url=http://www.gramophone.co.uk/classical-music-news/seoul-philharmonic-signs-to-dg|access-date=2015-07-04}} and gave its first performance at The Proms.{{cite news|author=Erica Jeal|date=2014-08-28|title=Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra/Chung/Wu review – playful and stylish sheng odyssey|work=The Guardian|url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2014/aug/28/seoul-philharmonic-orchestra-chung-wu-review-prom-55-london|access-date=2015-07-04}}

In addition to being awarded numerous music prizes, Myung-whun Chung has also been honoured with Korea's most distinguished cultural award 'Kumkwan' for his contribution to Korean musical life and was named "Man of the year" by UNESCO. He served as the Ambassador for the Drug Control Program at the United Nations and was Korea's Honorary Cultural Ambassador, the first in the Korean government's history.

=Recordings=

His recordings since 1990 include

Honours

Chung served as Ambassador for the Drug Control Program at the United Nations and was Korea's first Honorary Cultural Ambassador.

References

{{Reflist}}

External links

  • {{AllMusic|class=artist|id=q17662}}
  • [https://www.askonasholt.com/artists/myung-whun-chung/ Askonas Holt agency profile of Myung-whun Chung]
  • [http://www.bach-cantatas.com/Bio/Chung-Myung-Whun.htm Myung-whun Chung biography] at the Bach Cantatas Website

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{{s-culture}}

{{succession box | title=Music Director, RSO Saarbrücken | before=Hans Zender | years=1984–1990 | after=Marcello Viotti}}

{{succession box | title=Music Director, Opéra Bastille | before=Daniel Barenboim | years=1989–1994 | after=James Conlon}}

{{succession box | title=Chief Conductor, KBS Symphony Orchestra | before=Othmar Maga | years=1998 | after=Dmitri Kitayenko}}

{{succession box | title=Music Director, Orchestre philharmonique de Radio France | before=Marek Janowski | years=2000–2015 | after=Mikko Franck}}

{{succession box | title=Music Director, Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra | before=Seung Gwak | years=2005–2015 | after=Osmo Vänskä}}

{{s-end}}

{{Accademia di Santa Cecilia conductors}}

{{Portal bar|Classical music|Opera}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chung, Myung-whun}}

Category:1953 births

Category:Living people

Category:South Korean classical pianists

Category:Music directors (opera)

Category:Musicians from Seoul

Category:ECM Records artists

Category:Deutsche Grammophon artists

Category:Recipients of the Legion of Honour

Category:Recipients of the Order of Cultural Merit (South Korea)

Category:Commandeurs of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres

Category:Pupils of Maria Curcio

Category:Prize-winners of the International Tchaikovsky Competition

Category:21st-century South Korean conductors (music)

Category:Recipients of the Ho-Am Prize in the Arts

Category:Mannes School of Music alumni

Category:Juilliard School alumni

Category:Music directors of the Orchestre philharmonique de Radio France