Pianist Won Sook Hur to present Mozart sonata recital in Seoul

A poster for Won Sook Hur's piano recital / Courtesy of OPUS

Pianist Won Sook Hur will perform six of Mozart’s piano sonatas in her upcoming recital in Seoul, scheduled for June 26.

According to the recital's organizer, OPUS, the concert, titled “Mozart: Salzburg and Munich Sonatas,” will be the first in a five-piece series dedicated to Mozart’s entire 18 piano sonatas and 15 variation works.

As a music prodigy, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756–1791) composed his first sonata when he was only 10 years old.

At the upcoming recital, Hur will perform Sonata K. 279 in C major, K. 280 in F major, K. 281 in B-flat major, K. 282 in E-flat major, K. 283 in G major, and K. 284 in D major — all of which Mozart composed while residing in Munich between 1774 and 1775.

Hur is a graduate of Seoul National University and the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna. She won first prize at the Valsesia International Music Competition and was also a prizewinner at the Viotti International Music Competition and the Ettore Pozzoli Piano Competition.

In addition to numerous solo recitals, Hur has performed at the Kumho Special Concert Series, the Seoul International Music Festival, the Asian Composers League International Festival, the Pablo Casals Festival in France and the Emanacje International Music Festival in Poland.

She has also collaborated with the Filarmonica de Stat Oradea in Romania, the Shanghai Broadcasting Symphony Orchestra, the Massimo Youth Orchestra in Italy and the Korean National Symphony Orchestra.

In 2019, her recording of Bach’s Goldberg Variations won the Supersonic Award from Luxembourg’s Pizzicato magazine and was nominated for the International Classical Music Awards. In January this year, her complete recording of Haydn’s piano sonatas was selected for the Sélection ClicMag by the French classical music magazine ClicMag.

Hur is currently a professor at Hoseo University in Asan, South Chungcheong Province. Last year, she was awarded the Okjo Geunjeong Medal, part of Korea’s Order of Civil Merit, in recognition of her contribution in music education.