SooJin Ahn, pianist
Biography
Korean born pianist SooJin Ahn is a President’s Award, a merit scholarship student pursuing an
undergraduate degree at Manhattan School of Music. SooJin began studying piano at the age of two.
She won first prize at Seoul Young People’s Music Festival at age five as the youngest performer. She
was accepted into Sun Hwa Arts School in Seoul with an outstanding level of performance.
SooJin was accepted into Seoul Art High School, the most renowned music school in South Korea, and
at the age of sixteen came to study abroad in the United States at Walnut Hill School and New England
Conservatory Preparatory School in Massachusetts. Her past teachers include Jonathan Bass, Ernest
Barretta, Suk Kim, Young Mee Yoon, and Kyu Young Lee. She is a candidate for bachelor's degree in
Music at Manhattan School of Music under guidance of Jeffrey Cohen, Seymour Lipkin, and James
Tocco. She has performed in masterclasses for artists like Benjamin Zander, Yong Hi Moon, and
Wolfgang Watzinger.
Recently, she was selected from masterclass audition at Manhattan School of Music in Winter 2010, and
played Bach Prelude & Fugue in E flat minor for Robert Levin, a faculty at Harvard. In early June 2009,
SooJin was invited to play in the Cathedral Spring Recital Series at the Cathedral Church of St. John the
Divine in New York City, sponsored by the Baisley Powell Elebash Fund. She also featured a recital in
Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall. As the first prize winner of the Annual Sun Hwa Concerto
Competition, she soloed with Sun Hwa Symphony Orchestra at the age of fifteen, playing Mozart’s
Piano Concerto No. 21. Her recent solo recital at Walnut Hill School in Spring 2008 featured pieces by
Chopin, Rachmaninov, Debussy, Prokofiev, and Messiaen.
SooJin has received 1st prize at American Protege International Piano Competition, honors at New
England Conservatory Preparatory School, 3rd prize at Korean-American 5th Annual Nation
Competition, 2nd prize at Music Education Press Competition, 1st prize at Anyang University Music
Competition, and 2nd prize at Korean-Germany Brahms Association Piano Competition.
Performance Experiences
Solo Recital at the Cathedral Church of Saint John the Divine June 2009
Recital at Weill Recital Hall, Carnegie Hall April 2009
Chamber Music Concert at Walnut Hill School May 2007
Chamber Music Concert at Walnut Hill School Dec. 2006
Chamber Music Concert at Walnut Hill School May 2007
Piano recitals at New England Conservatory 2007
Piano recitals at New England Conservatory 2006
Recitals at Seoul Art High School 2005
Annual Sun Hwa Music Concert in Little Angels Arts Center 2004
at Sun Hwa Arts School (Solo performance with Symphony orchestra)
Performing Ensembles
Walnut Hill Chamber Music
*Dvorak Piano Quintet-Heng-Jin Park, coach First term 2007-2008
*Mozart Piano Quartet-Heng-Jin Park, coach Second term 2006-2007
*Schobert Piano Quintet-Laura Thielke, coach First term 2006-2007
*J.S. Bach Concerto for Piano, Violin and Oboe, Second term 2005-2006
BWV 1060-Laura Thielke, coach
Piano Duos at Seoul Art High School 2005
*Mozart Sonata for one piano/four hands KV.381
*Schubert Op.121
*Georges Bizet- Jeuxd ‘enfants
Honors and Awards
1st Prize, American Protege International Piano Competition 2009
3rd Prize, Korean-American fifth Annual National Competition 2004
2rd Prize, Music Education Press Competition 2004
Special Prize(Best Prize), Dongha Music Press Competition 2004
1st Prize, Sun Hwa Arts School “ Performer Audition” 2004
1st Prize, Anyang University Music Competition 2003
2nd Prize, Korean-Germany Brahms Association Piano Competition 2003
Musical Training
Manhattan School of Music 2008-Present
Walnut Hill School 2006-2008
Fundamentals of Music (2006), Music Theory1&2(2006-2008)
Music History (2007-2008), Solfege(2006-2008), Ear training (2006-2008)
Concert Choir (2006-2008), Chamber music program (2006-2008), Master classes (2006-2008)
Summer Music Festivals
SMF&A (Seoul Music Festival & Academy) 2007
Coached by Robert McDonald and Martin Canin
SMF&A (Seoul Music Festival & Academy) with Juilliard Faculties in Seoul 2005
Coached by Ernest Barretta and Oxana Yablonskaya
Eumag Chunchu Summer Music Festival 2003
Coached by Suk Kim
Master Classes
Benjamin Zander 2007
(Conductor of the Boston Philharmonic Orchestra and the New England Conservatory Youth
Philharmonic)
Yong Hi Moon (Peabody Conservatory) 2007
Ernest Barretta (Juilliard Pre-College) 2005
Private Studies
Jeffrey Cohen
Seymour Lipkin
James Tocco
Ernest Barretta
Jonathan Bass, Chairman of Piano at Boston University College of Fine Arts, Boston, MA
Suk Kim, Honorary Professor of Music department at Kyung Hee Univ., Seoul, S. Korea
Kyu Young Lee, A Lecturer of the Piano Department at Daejin University, South Korea
Biography
Korean born pianist SooJin Ahn is a President’s Award, a merit scholarship student pursuing an
undergraduate degree at Manhattan School of Music. SooJin began studying piano at the age of two.
She won first prize at Seoul Young People’s Music Festival at age five as the youngest performer. She
was accepted into Sun Hwa Arts School in Seoul with an outstanding level of performance.
SooJin was accepted into Seoul Art High School, the most renowned music school in South Korea, and
at the age of sixteen came to study abroad in the United States at Walnut Hill School and New England
Conservatory Preparatory School in Massachusetts. Her past teachers include Jonathan Bass, Ernest
Barretta, Suk Kim, Young Mee Yoon, and Kyu Young Lee. She is a candidate for bachelor's degree in
Music at Manhattan School of Music under guidance of Jeffrey Cohen, Seymour Lipkin, and James
Tocco. She has performed in masterclasses for artists like Benjamin Zander, Yong Hi Moon, and
Wolfgang Watzinger.
Recently, she was selected from masterclass audition at Manhattan School of Music in Winter 2010, and
played Bach Prelude & Fugue in E flat minor for Robert Levin, a faculty at Harvard. In early June 2009,
SooJin was invited to play in the Cathedral Spring Recital Series at the Cathedral Church of St. John the
Divine in New York City, sponsored by the Baisley Powell Elebash Fund. She also featured a recital in
Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall. As the first prize winner of the Annual Sun Hwa Concerto
Competition, she soloed with Sun Hwa Symphony Orchestra at the age of fifteen, playing Mozart’s
Piano Concerto No. 21. Her recent solo recital at Walnut Hill School in Spring 2008 featured pieces by
Chopin, Rachmaninov, Debussy, Prokofiev, and Messiaen.
SooJin has received 1st prize at American Protege International Piano Competition, honors at New
England Conservatory Preparatory School, 3rd prize at Korean-American 5th Annual Nation
Competition, 2nd prize at Music Education Press Competition, 1st prize at Anyang University Music
Competition, and 2nd prize at Korean-Germany Brahms Association Piano Competition.
Performance Experiences
Solo Recital at the Cathedral Church of Saint John the Divine June 2009
Recital at Weill Recital Hall, Carnegie Hall April 2009
Chamber Music Concert at Walnut Hill School May 2007
Chamber Music Concert at Walnut Hill School Dec. 2006
Chamber Music Concert at Walnut Hill School May 2007
Piano recitals at New England Conservatory 2007
Piano recitals at New England Conservatory 2006
Recitals at Seoul Art High School 2005
Annual Sun Hwa Music Concert in Little Angels Arts Center 2004
at Sun Hwa Arts School (Solo performance with Symphony orchestra)
Performing Ensembles
Walnut Hill Chamber Music
*Dvorak Piano Quintet-Heng-Jin Park, coach First term 2007-2008
*Mozart Piano Quartet-Heng-Jin Park, coach Second term 2006-2007
*Schobert Piano Quintet-Laura Thielke, coach First term 2006-2007
*J.S. Bach Concerto for Piano, Violin and Oboe, Second term 2005-2006
BWV 1060-Laura Thielke, coach
Piano Duos at Seoul Art High School 2005
*Mozart Sonata for one piano/four hands KV.381
*Schubert Op.121
*Georges Bizet- Jeuxd ‘enfants
Honors and Awards
1st Prize, American Protege International Piano Competition 2009
3rd Prize, Korean-American fifth Annual National Competition 2004
2rd Prize, Music Education Press Competition 2004
Special Prize(Best Prize), Dongha Music Press Competition 2004
1st Prize, Sun Hwa Arts School “ Performer Audition” 2004
1st Prize, Anyang University Music Competition 2003
2nd Prize, Korean-Germany Brahms Association Piano Competition 2003
Musical Training
Manhattan School of Music 2008-Present
Walnut Hill School 2006-2008
Fundamentals of Music (2006), Music Theory1&2(2006-2008)
Music History (2007-2008), Solfege(2006-2008), Ear training (2006-2008)
Concert Choir (2006-2008), Chamber music program (2006-2008), Master classes (2006-2008)
Summer Music Festivals
SMF&A (Seoul Music Festival & Academy) 2007
Coached by Robert McDonald and Martin Canin
SMF&A (Seoul Music Festival & Academy) with Juilliard Faculties in Seoul 2005
Coached by Ernest Barretta and Oxana Yablonskaya
Eumag Chunchu Summer Music Festival 2003
Coached by Suk Kim
Master Classes
Benjamin Zander 2007
(Conductor of the Boston Philharmonic Orchestra and the New England Conservatory Youth
Philharmonic)
Yong Hi Moon (Peabody Conservatory) 2007
Ernest Barretta (Juilliard Pre-College) 2005
Private Studies
Jeffrey Cohen
Seymour Lipkin
James Tocco
Ernest Barretta
Jonathan Bass, Chairman of Piano at Boston University College of Fine Arts, Boston, MA
Suk Kim, Honorary Professor of Music department at Kyung Hee Univ., Seoul, S. Korea
Kyu Young Lee, A Lecturer of the Piano Department at Daejin University, South Korea
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SooJin Ahn, pianist
© 2011 SooJin Ahn
