RECITAL

Morgan Library & Museum
Young Concert Artists Series

Ji - Piano

John Cage - 4’33 J.S. 
Bach - Goldberg Variations, BWV 988


A television commercial using the artist...

Ji playing Bach. Not the Goldberg Variations, though...

Hailed by the Chicago Tribune as “a gifted young pianist who is clearly going places,” Ji has been praised from a young age for his compelling musical presence and impressive technical command.  He is currently the star of a national Android commercial in which he performs Beethoven’s Moonlight Sonata on two pianos, one that features the usual 88 pitches on a piano, and one that is tuned so that each key plays a middle C.  Last season, Ji made his Alice Tully Hall debut performing Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 23 with the Orchestra of St. Luke’s and Gerard Schwarz, to a rave review in The New York Times.  He has appeared as soloist with orchestras including the Toronto Symphony, Nashville Symphony, Bangor Symphony, Fairfax Symphony, Charlotte Philharmonic, Victoria Symphony, New Haven Symphony, New Jersey Symphony, Santa Rosa Symphony, and the Brevard Festival Orchestra.  He has given recitals and educational outreach programs throughout the U.S. at the Alys Stephens Performing Arts Center, the Harriman-Jewell Series, Philadelphia’s Morning Musicales, the Buffalo Chamber Music Society, Mary Baldwin College, St. Vincent College, the Evergreen Museum and Library, the Port Washington Library, and the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum.  He has also performed in four-hand recitals with Marika Bournaki at the Seoul Art Center and with Charles Wadsworth in a chamber music program of Charles Wadsworth and Friends.  Highlights of the 2015-2016 season include recitals at the ShortGrass Music Festival, the Brownville Concert Series, La Jolla Music Society, and at the Morgan Library and Museum; a performance of the Mozart Piano Concerto No. 23 with the Colorado Symphony Orchestra; and a chamber music appearance at San Diego’s Mainly Mozart Festival.

Well-known in Korea, Ji performed the country’s first outdoor classical concert as soloist with the BBC Symphony under Jirí Belohlávek; and performed in Seoul with world-renowned ballerina, Sue Jin Kang and dancers from the Stuttgart Ballet.  Ji’s creative vision to make classical music accessible to young people led to his “Stop & Listen” outdoor “guerrilla” performances in 2010, during which he worked with renowned Korean pop-artist Tae Jung Kim to design the “Ji-T” piano, bringing classical music to the public on the busy streets of Seoul.  He also collaborated with the Japanese electronic/house music singer FreeTEMPO.  From 2008 to 2013, Ji performed as a member of the Ensemble DITTO in Korea and Japan with violinist Stefan Jackiw, violist Richard O’Neill, and cellist Michael Nicolas; last season, he returned to Korea to give a six-city recital tour alongside Jackiw.  Ji has recorded two CDs: Bach Exhibition on the Credia label, and Lisztomaniawith Credia/Universal Music.

Winner of the 2012 Young Concert Artists International Auditions, Ji made recital debuts at Merkin Concert Hall and the Kennedy Center on the Young Concert Artists Series to rave reviews.  He was also honored with eight YCA prizes: the John Browning Memorial Award, the Sander Buchman Award, the Slomovic Concerto Prize, the Korean Concert Society Prize, and four concert prizes: the Harriman-Jewell Series Prize, the Bronder Prize for Piano from Saint Vincent College, the Tannery Pond Concerts Prize and the Usedom Festival Prize in Germany.

Ji began playing the piano at the age of five. At the age of ten, he was the youngest pianist to win the New York Philharmonic’s Young Artists Competition, resulting in a performance at Avery Fisher Hall under Maestro Kurt Masur.  He graduated from the Juilliard School where he studied with Yoheved Kaplinsky.

A description of 4'33"...

A piano performance of John Cage's 4'33"...

The pianist just sat on the end of the piano bench with his legs crossed and his eyes closed.  If anyone in the audience made a noise, the artist opened his eyes and stared the person down.

The Bach Goldberg's were wonderful!