Sponsor: W y s s & P a r t n e r AG, Vaduz, Fürstentum Liechtenstein
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Ji-Hwan Hong (Klavier)


Ji-Hwan Hong was born in 1987 in Seoul and began studying the piano when he was 5 years old. Although very young, he demonstrated a tremendous interest in music, composing his first waltz by the time he was 8. Even then he loved to play the piano for hours at a time. In 1999 when he was in the sixth grade, he came in first at many nationwide piano competitions such as the Chopin, Eumak Chunchu, Samik and the Hankook Daily Newspaper contest.
In 2000 when he was 13 years old, he was accepted at the Yewon Art School, known as the best art school in Korea and proceeded to take 1st prize in numerous nationwide competitions such as Eumyeon, Ewha-Kyunghyang and Chamber Music Competitions. He also received a Duploma at the "Chopin Junior International Competition in Moscow." In that same year he performed the Chopin piano concerto No. 1 with the Seoul Symphony Orchestra and in 2001 he won the honor to perform at the "Beijing UNESCO Art Festival" as a result of his 1st prize winnings in a series of competitions the previous year. He also won the Kumho audition for Gifted Young Artists and has since appeared in countless chamber music concerts with nationally known professors.
In 2003, he met a world renowned European professor named Karl-Heinz Kammerling at "Schloss Hopferau" held in Germany and has been studying with him since he registered the "K.A" course (master's course) in Hannover National Music College at the age of 15. In January 2005, he won 1st prize at the International Youth Piano Competition held in Croatia and sponsored by the European Piano Teachers' Association and began to get recognition for his musical talent in European circles. In 2006, he won 1 st prize at the International piano competition Val tidone.