Honggi Kim
South Korea I Age 30
In Honggi Kim’s childhood home in Wonju, his sister played an electric keyboard; his parents then encouraged him to start learning the instrument after he played the same pieces she did, on his own, by ear. During his middle school years at art school in Seoul, he also studied composition, which he credits with deepening his understanding of music and its logic, so that he could develop his own interpretations.
He went on to graduate from the Seoul Arts High School and Korea National University of Arts; he has lived and studied in Germany since 2014, at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater München and the Hochschule für Musik und Darstellende Kunst Frankfurt am Main, with Arnulf von Arnim and Antti Siirala.
Honggi has been awarded prizes at numerous international piano competitions, including Geneva, China International, Isang Yun (Korea), Jaén (Spain), and Géza Anda (Switzerland). He was a semifinalist in the 2017 Cliburn Competition and, in 2019, won the Hong Kong International Piano Competition.
He has given recitals in Switzerland, Italy, Germany, China, Singapore, Japan, and Korea; and performed with orchestras including Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, Macau Orchestra, Changwon Symphony Orchestra, Wonju Symphony Orchestra, Münchner Kammerorchester, Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra, and Korean Symphony Orchestra.
REPERTOIRE
Preliminary Round
SCARLATTI Sonata in B Minor, K. 87
SCARLATTI Sonata in B Minor, K. 27
SCARLATTI Sonata in G Major, K. 13
SCARLATTI Sonata in G Major, K. 455
HOUGH Fanfare Toccata
TCHAIKOVSKY–PLETNEV Suite from The Nutcracker
Quarterfinal Round
SCHUMANN Carnaval, op. 9
LISZT Hungarian Rhapsody No. 9 “Pesther Carneval”
Semifinal Round – Recital
RACHMANINOV Ten Preludes, op. 23
ADAMS China Gates
BARBER Sonata for Piano, op. 26
Semifinal Round – Mozart concerto
MOZART Piano Concerto No. 20 in D Minor, K. 466
Final Round – Concerto I
BEETHOVEN Piano Concerto No. 1 in C Major, op. 15
Final Round – Concerto II
RACHMANINOV Piano Concerto No. 3 in D Minor, op. 30