BIOGRAPHY

Young Woong Cho, D.M.A., is an internationally acclaimed pianist and dedicated educator who enjoys a diverse musical career. Born in Daejeon, Korea, Dr. Cho started playing piano at the age of five. His early music lessons were under the instruction of his mother. His most influential teachers are Dr. Joy J. Song, Inna Malinina, Dr. David Witten and Gila Goldstein. As an active soloist and chamber musician, he frequently appears at concerts in both Korea and the United States.

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Dr. Cho went to Russia at the age of 17 and studied at the Gnesin’s Academy of Music, where he earned his Bachelor's and Master's degrees. While studying in Russia, he participated in numerous competitions and won prizes, including 3rd prize at the 2008 Modern Arts & Education Competition in Russia and 2nd prize in the 2009 Musical Performances & Pedagogics Competition in Croatia. After studying in Russia, Dr. Cho went to the United States. He received the Artist Diploma with the Graduate Outstanding Performance Award from the John J. Cali School of Music at Montclair State University in Montclair, NJ. In 2020, Dr. Cho finished his studies at Boston University and received his Doctor of Musical Arts degree with his thesis “Teaching Process within Piano Pieces by Sergei Prokofiev (1891-1953)” under the guidance of Gila Goldstein and Justin Casinghino.

Dr. Cho participated in master-classes taught by world-renowned pianists, such as Paul Badura-Skoda, Vitaly Margulis, Boris Berman, Siegfried Mauser, Ian Fountain, Arnuf von Arnim and John Perry.  

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Dr. Cho especially stands out in chamber music and connects with audience members. While at Montclair, he was guided by a world-class string quartet, the Shanghai Quartet. In 2013, he founded the Cali Trio, named after the founder of John J. Cali School of Music at Montclair State University. The trio actively performed throughout the East Coast and was invited to perform at distinguished venues, including the Alexander Kasser Theater, Jed Leshowitz Recital Hall, South Orange Library and the Van Vleck House & Gardens in New Jersey. In 2014, Dr. Cho was selected as one of the Fifteen Young Artists for the Manchester Music Festival in Manchester, Vermont and received a full scholarship for a six-week long chamber concert series. His performance with other young artists was very well received by the audience.

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In 2016, Dr. Cho started the chamber music series 'Young Woong Cho & Friends'. As the founder and artistic director, he meets audience members from all over Korea through various chamber music performances. He also founded the ensemble The Music in 2017, which performs a wide variety of chamber music repertoire for multiple pianos.  

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At the start of 2020, Dr. Cho established his international performing organization, The SMI (Stage of Musical Inspiration), which introduces young, talented musicians from all over the world to audiences in the United States, Korea and elsewhere. 

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Most recently, he founded Duo Amabile with pianist Hyekyeong Hannah Cho. The Duo won numerous competitions last year, including Charleston (1st prize), Fanny Mendelssohn (1st  prize), American (1st prize) and American Virtuoso (1st prize), which invited the duo to perform at the Weill recital hall at Carnegie Hall in Fall 2024.

Young Woong Cho is currently based in Boston. He is a piano faculty at Brookline Music

School and serves as an adjunct faculty (collaborative pianist) at his alma-mater, John J. Cali School of Music at Montclair State University.

Starting September 1 st , Dr. Cho will lead the piano department at Brookline Music School as a Piano Department coordinator.

As a recipient of a Cultural Sector Recovery Grant from the Mass Cultural Council in 2023,

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he looks forward to continuously performing throughout the greater Boston area and elsewhere.

Young Woong Cho is a Steinway & Sons Educational Partner.

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