Myung-Whun Chung

Myung-Whun Chung began his musical career as a pianist and he won the second prize at the Tchaikovsky Piano Competition in Moscow in 1974. He became Carlo Maria Giulini’s assistant in 1979 at the Los Angeles Philharmonic and two years later he was named Associate Conductor. He has conducted virtually all the prominent European and American orchestras and he made his debut at the Metropolitan Opera in New York in 1986 with Simon Boccanegra. From 1989 to 1994, Myung-Whun Chung served as the Music Director of the Paris Opéra.

He has been the Special Artistic Advisor of the Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra since 2001 and he was awarded the prestigious Record Academy Prize by Japanese critics following his performances in Japan. He has been Music Director of the Asia Philharmonic Orchestra since 1997, Music Director of the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France since 2000, Special Artistic Advisor of Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra since 2001 and Music Director of the Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra since 2006.

Many of his numerous recordings have won international prizes and awards. These include Olivier Messiaen’s Turangalîla Symphony, Verdi’s Otello, Berlioz’ Symphonie Fantastique, Shostakovich’s Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk with the Orchestre de l’Opéra Bastille, a series of Dvořák’s symphonies and serenades with the Wiener Philharmoniker, a series dedicated to great sacred music with the Orchestra dell’Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, featuring an award-winning recording of Duruflé’s and Fauré’s Requiems with Cecilia Bartoli and Bryn Terfel.

He has been the recipient of many honours and prizes for his artistic work, including the Premio Abbiati and the Arturo Toscanini prize in Italy and the Légion d’Honneur (1992) in France; in 1991 the Association of French Theatres and Music Critics named him Artist of the Year and in 1995 he won the prize Victoire de la Musique for the third time.