Pianists Choue Hee-youn, Eric Zuber to perform duo recital in Seoul

A poster for Choue Hee-youn and Eric Zuber's upcoming concert / Courtesy of Choue Hee-youn

Pianists Choue Hee-youn and Eric Zuber will hold a duo recital this week, featuring works by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Franz Liszt, Claude Debussy and Sergei Rachmaninoff.

The program includes the Sonata for Two Pianos in D major, K. 448 by Mozart; "Réminiscences de Don Juan for two pianos," S. 656 by Liszt; "Petite Suite for piano four hands," L. 65 by Debussy; and Suite No. 2 for two pianos, Op. 17 by Rachmaninoff.

Choue won the Harrison Winter Competition and placed second in the Yale Gordon Piano Competition. Also, she was selected to participate in the Conservatory Project organized by the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C.

She has performed at Carnegie Hall's Weill Recital Hall in New York; the Terrace Theater at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C.; and the Merkin Hall at the Kaufman Music Center in New York. She has also collaborated with the Manhattan Chamber Orchestra.

Choue currently teaches at Yonsei University, Sungshin Women’s University and Chung-Ang University and serves as a visiting professor at the Graduate School of Dankook University's department of music.

Zuber, a former child prodigy, was the winner of the Hilton Head International Piano Competition and the Bosendorfer International Piano Competition.

He has performed with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, followed by solo recitals at the Kennedy Center, the Sydney Opera House and the New York International Piano Festival.

His first album, "The Young Chopin," was praised for “technique approaching perfection” and “a brilliant yet never excessive or contrived expressiveness.”

Zuber currently teaches at Michigan State University.

The collaboration was made possible thanks to last year’s Haeundae Music Festival, in which both artists participated. As alumni of the Peabody Institute of Johns Hopkins University, Choue and Zuber have previously performed together.

“Eric is a remarkably gifted musician with a natural sense for music and a deep understanding of the repertoire," Choue told The Korea Times.

"He has a beautiful sound and an instinctive way of approaching music. What really stands out is how he handles the fine details with such care while also keeping a clear grasp of the big picture — almost like a conductor."

The concert will take place on Wednesday at Kumho Art Hall Yonsei in Seoul.