BIOGRAPHY

A new star in the world of piano, Saehyun Kim has received unanimous acclaim since his triumph at the 2025 Long-Thibaud Competition. Magical touch, extraordinary maturity, and a rare charisma are hallmarks of his artistry—Saehyun Kim is an unstoppable force, already emerging as one of the great piano figures of tomorrow.

Born in 2007, Saehyun Kim is a South Korean pianist based in Boston, MA. On the eve of his eighteenth birthday in 2025, he gained international attention after winning the Grand Prix, the Audience Prize, the Prize of the Press, and the Prize of the City of Paris Conservatories at the International Long-Thibaud Competition. Prior to his triumph in Paris, he took top honors in the 2023 Cleveland International Piano Competition for Young Artists, being awarded the First Prize, the Audience Prize, and the Junior Jury Prize. Major accolades include first prize in the Morningside Music Bridge International Concerto Competition and second prize (youngest finalist) at the International Tchaikovsky Online Piano Competition for Young Musicians.

Over the past decade, Kim has performed at venues across the U.S., France, Austria, South Korea, and Japan, such as Jordan Hall, Salle Cortot, Ehrbar Saal, Seoul Arts Center, Yamaha Hall Ginza, and more. He has appeared as a soloist with the Orchestre de la Garde Républicaine, Canton Symphony, North Mississippi Symphony, Arkansas Philharmonic (performing on Van Cliburn’s personal Steinway concert grand), NEC Youth Philharmonic, NEC Youth Symphony, Korean National Symphony, and Sendai Philharmonic, collaborating with conductors Bastien Stil, Steven Byess, David Loebel, Steven Karidoyanes, Chi-Yong Chung, and Ken Takaseki. In the 2023/2024 season, Kim made his recital debuts at the International Keyboard Odyssiad & Festival in Fort Collins, CO, the IBK Chamber Hall of Seoul Arts Center, and the Shinyoung Chamber Hall in South Korea. His performances for Long-Thibaud are broadcasted on Radio Classique, and for Cleveland, on WQXR.

Following his studies at the Seoul Arts Center Music Academy and the Yewon School under Soojung Shin, professor emeritus at Seoul National University, and Youngmi Choi, professor at Seoul National University of Education, Kim moved to the U.S. He continued his musical training at Walnut Hill School for the Arts and the NEC Preparatory School, studying with HaeSun Paik, at New England Conservatory. After graduating from both institutions as a recipient of the 2024 Arnold C. Taylor Award for Academic and Artistic Achievement at Walnut Hill and the Piano Department Award at NEC Prep, Kim enrolled in the prestigious Harvard/NEC dual degree program in the fall of 2024. Currently, he is studying with Dang Thai Son and HaeSun Paik.

He is also a graduate of the Morningside Music Bridge program and the Lang Lang International Music Foundation Young Scholars Program and has appeared on NPR’s From the Top, KBS Classic FM, and JTBC Classic Today. He is currently a scholar of the Theo and Petra LIEVEN International Piano Foundation.

Upcoming highlights of the 2024/2025 season include a televised solo performance on Bastille Day at the Champs de Mars in Paris, a recital at the Château de Florans for the Festival International de Piano de La Roque d’Anthéron, Pianos Folies Festival in Touquet, solo performances at the Fondation Louis Vuitton and Sainte-Chapelle, as well as a series of recitals in major cities across his native country. The season also features the recording of a solo program for Warner Classics.

PRESS QUOTES

« An exceptional artist …. the definition of a great performer: one who, for the space of a concert, transcends himself»
Bertrand Boissard – Diapason