Biography
Myung-whun Chung, born on January 22, 1953, in Seoul, is a renowned South Korean conductor and pianist.
He studied piano under Maria Curcio and earned a joint second prize at the 1974 International Tchaikovsky Competition. Chung performed in the Chung Trio alongside his sisters, violinist Kyung-wha Chung and cellist Myung-wha Chung.
Chung pursued conducting studies at the Mannes College of Music and the Juilliard School. He has led nearly all major European and American orchestras, including the Metropolitan Opera in New York, the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the Chicago Philharmonic, the Berlin Philharmonic, and the Vienna Philharmonic.
From 1984 to 1990, Chung served as chief conductor of the Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Saarbrücken and was principal guest conductor of Teatro Comunale Florence between 1987 and 1992. He received the Premio Abbiati award from Italian critics in 1988 and the Arturo Toscanini prize in 1989. Between 1989 and 1994, Chung was music director of the Paris Opera, where he inaugurated the first season at the Opéra Bastille with Berlioz's complete Les Troyens, earning high praise. The Association of French Theatres and Music Critics named him "Artist of the Year" in 1991, and he received the Legion d'Honneur in 1992 for his contributions to the Paris Opera.
Since 1990, Chung has been an exclusive recording artist for Deutsche Grammophon. His acclaimed recordings include Messiaen's Turangalîla-Symphonie and Éclairs sur l'au-delà…, Verdi's Otello, Berlioz's Symphonie fantastique, and Shostakovich's Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk with the Bastille Opera Orchestra. He has recorded a series of Dvořák symphonies and serenades with the Vienna Philharmonic and sacred music with the Orchestra dell'Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, including award-winning recordings of Duruflé's and Fauré's Requiems featuring Cecilia Bartoli and Bryn Terfel. In 1995, he was honored three times at the French Victoires de la Musiques Classiques and named Meilleur Chef d'Orchestre de l'Année.
Chung conducted the world premiere of Messiaen's final work, Concert à quatre, dedicated to him and the Orchestre de la Bastille. He became artistic director of the Asia Philharmonic Orchestra in 1997 and of the Orchestre philharmonique de Radio France in 2000. The Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra appointed him Special Artistic Advisor in 2001, Honorary Conductor Laureate in 2010, and Honorary Music Director in 2016. In 2012, Chung became the first principal guest conductor in the history of the Staatskapelle Dresden. He led the Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra as principal conductor from 2005 to 2015, during which time the orchestra became the first Asian ensemble to sign a major-label recording contract and performed at The Proms for the first time.
