Sung-Won Yang offered performances loaded with imagination, technical brilliance and pinpoint accuracy in intonation. Contours were skillfully shaped, scalar nuances were crafted with exquisite care and the whole rang with a resounding richness.
-Washington Post-
…an immensely accomplished artist with a huge sound and a way of playing that is lyrical and intense without a hint of preciousness.
-The Sunday Times-
It takes a player of Sung-Won Yang’s Technical Brilliance and expressive boldness to make one feel The Kodaly’s Solo Sonata’s full grandeur.
-Gramophone-
A celebrated cellist of international renown, Sung-Won Yang has performed on many of the world’s most prestigious stages, including Lincoln Center’s Alice Tully Hall, the Salle Pleyel and Théâtre des Champs-Élysées in Paris, the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, the Musikverein in Vienna, and Tokyo’s Suntory Hall and Opera City.
His most recent recordings under Decca/UM include Schumann’s Cello Concerto with the London Symphony Orchestra under Hans Graf (2024), and an Elgar album featuring his iconic Cello Concerto and Piano Quintet with the LSO and Graf, which will be released in April 2025. His earlier recordings—spanning Kodály, Bach, Beethoven, Brahms, Schumann, and Messiaen—have been widely acclaimed, with his Kodály album earning both “Editor’s Choice of the Month” and “Critic’s Choice of the Year” from Gramophone. A recording of Haydn’s Cello Concertos with Thomas Zehetmair and the Orchestre National d’Auvergne Rhône-Alpes is set for release in spring 2026.
Mr. Yang has formed significant musical partnerships throughout his career, including a longstanding duo collaboration with pianist Enrico Pace, resulting in acclaimed recordings of works by Liszt, Chopin, Beethoven, Schumann, and Brahms. Additionally, with violinist Olivier Charlier and pianist Emmanuel Strosser, he co-founded the Trio Owon, with which he has recorded numerous albums, including the complete works of Beethoven, Tchaikovsky, and Weinberg. His collaborations also include performances with Hans Graf, Zdeněk Mácal, Miklós Perényi, Peter Eötvös, Myung-Whun Chung, and Christoph Eschenbach, among others.
A dedicated advocate for contemporary music, Mr. Yang regularly commissions and premieres new works. Recent premieres include compositions by Peter Eötvös, JeeYoung Kim, Laurent Petitgirard, Nicola Sani, Michèle Reverdy, and an upcoming work dedicated to him and Enrico Pace by composer Eric Montalbetti. His commitment to innovation and tradition extends beyond performance: in 2016, he produced a documentary film honoring the young French priests martyred in Korea in the 19th century, intertwining music and cultural heritage to commemorate their sacrifices and foster intercultural understanding.
Born in Korea, Sung-Won Yang studied at the Paris Conservatoire and served as an assistant to the legendary cellist János Starker at Indiana University. He frequently serves on juries for prestigious competitions, including the Banff International String Quartet Competition, the Cassadó International Cello Competition, and the André Navarra International Cello Competition.
As Artistic Director of the Music in PyeongChang Festival in Korea and the Festival Beethoven de Beaune in France, Mr. Yang brings visionary programming to festivals, fostering cultural exchange and inspiring audiences worldwide with performances that bridge the past and present. Honored as a Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres by the French Government, he also holds professorships at Yonsei University School of Music in Seoul and the Royal Academy of Music in London.
Driven by a profound belief in the power of music to create a more harmonious society, Mr. Yang views cultural heritage as a bridge connecting individuals and communities. He often reflects on Victor Hugo’s words, “Music expresses that which cannot be put into words and that which cannot remain silent,” and draws inspiration from Beethoven’s ability to convey “non-expressible sentiments,” especially after losing his hearing. These ideals shape his artistic vision, guiding his efforts to leave a lasting impact through music.
His recordings, live concerts, and television broadcasts continue to leave an indelible mark on the world of classical music.
In 2009 Sung-Won Yang creates the Trio Owon with violinist Olivier Charlier et pianist Emmanuel Strosser, from the merger of three musicians from the Paris Conservatory, united by the same passion for chamber music. Their goal is to share with its audience a fully integrated vision of music, committed by a group without boundaries, resulting from a rich and varied artistic inspiration. Through concerts and recordings in England, France, and Korea, Trio Owon already stated its identity made of passion and maturity, like the painter whose name they bear. Painter of Nature, emotion and poetry, OHWON Jang Seung Up, embodies for the trio Owon the universal dimension of Art. Contemporary of Brahms, but from a completely different aesthetic world, it symbolizes the quest of an ideal result of tradition and renewal in the nineteenth century Korea. His story brought to the cinema (Strokes of Fire, prized at Festival de Cannes in 2002), reveals the doubts and commitments of an undaunted artist. Beyond the anecdote (his name’s sound summarizes some of our three first names…) here it symbolizes the osmosis between knowledge and modernity.
Sung-Won Yang plays Versum Solo strings.