Dubai Opera, an exterior view.

Muhammad Yusuf, Features Writer

Global Notes, in collaboration with Encore Performing Arts, has announced what promises to be a night of musical excellence featuring Jeonghwan Kim, the acclaimed First Prize Winner of the prestigious 2023 Sydney International Piano Competition. Kim’s event will be held at the Dubai Opera Studio on June 15, in partnership with Royal Grammar School Guildford Dubai (RGSGD). Kim has consistently impressed audiences with his talent throughout his musical journey, from winning numerous national competitions to achieving global recognition. His performances have graced renowned venues across Berlin, Weimar, Hamburg, Aarhus, and beyond, leaving awed audiences behind. The repertoire for the evening in Dubai features works by Mozart, Schumann, Chopin, and Liszt. Curated by the renowned Amira Fouad, the occasion, besides being a concert, will be an immersive experience celebrating the artistry of Kim. “Every key struck by Jeonghwan Kim will weave a tapestry of emotion and virtuosity,” say the organisers.

Encore is one of the leading fully licensed performing arts companies in the UAE, specialising in classical music and the arts. It founded the National Youth Orchestra and has inaugurated and artistically manages the hugely successful Music in the Studio monthly series of concerts - now in its twelfth successful season rebranded as ‘Global Notes’ - and master classes in partnership with Dubai Opera since 2017.

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The series has catalysed the classical music scene in Dubai and has a loyal following of patrons. Encore brings to the UAE a wealth of experience, including tours, concerts, and master classes with international artists and orchestras such as the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, the Royal Scottish National Orchestra, the English Chamber Orchestra, and the London Mozart Players.

  Jeonghwan Kim is a world renowned pianist.

Born in Seoul in 2000, Kim first began playing the piano at the age of six. In the following years, his numerous first prizes in national competitions led to his admittance to the Seoul Arts Center Academy for Young Talented Musicians. He was just nine years old. After moving to Berlin in 2011, he continued to earn extensive recognition in prestigious national and international piano competitions. At the 2017 International Liszt Competition for Young Pianists in Weimar, he received the third prize, along with two special prizes. In 2019, he was awarded the 1st prize at the Aarhus International Piano Competition in Denmark; it prompted immediate invitations to perform with the Aarhus and Odense Symphony Orchestras. In 2022, he was awarded three prizes: in January, he won the 1st prize at the Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy competition in Berlin; five months later, in June, he won the fourth prize and the audience prize at the Sendai International Piano Competition.

In 2023, he won the 1st prize along with two special prizes for his performance for the Bartok’s second piano concerto and the Best Overall Concerto Prize at the renowned Sydney International Piano Competition. Since 2017, Kim has been studying at the University of Music Hanns Eisler in the class of Professor Konrad Maria Engel. His former professors include So Yong Choi and Leda Kim. He has also participated in master classes with Jakob Leuschner, Bob Versteegh, and Robert Levin. Other influences in his artistic development include Stephan Imorde, Konstantin Heidrich, Antje Weithaas and Jonathan Aner.

  Jeonghwan Kim is a multiple award winning pianist.

Australian classical pianist Piers Lane has said about Kim that he is “a very complete pianist and artist. His virtuosity is astounding, his accuracy in the most complex passages breathtaking ... brought tears to my eyes”. The Sydney International Piano Competition is a music competition presented in Sydney and broadcast live throughout Australia and internationally. It is held every four years, over three weeks in July – August, and is internationally recognised as one of the world’s great piano competitions.

The rapidity of Mozart’s compositions, despite his short life, resulted in more than 800 works, representing virtually every Western classical genre of his time. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest composers in the history of Western music, with his music admired for its “melodic beauty, its formal elegance and its richness of harmony and texture”.

Schumann was a German composer, pianist and music critic who had considerable influence in the nineteenth century and beyond. Chopin was a Polish composer and pianist who wrote primarily for solo piano. He has maintained worldwide renown as a leading musician of his era, one whose “poetic genius was based on a professional technique that was without equal in his generation”. Liszt was a Hungarian composer, pianist, conductor and teacher. He is considered to be one of the most prolific and influential composers of his era, and his piano works continue to be widely performed and recorded.

RGSGD is where music appreciation is part of a holistic approach to the arts. The school is the Education Partner for Global Notes in the Studio at Dubai Opera. “We believe that understanding and embracing the beauty of music enriches lives. It fosters creativity, emotional intelligence, and cultural awareness. We are committed to nurturing not only academic success, but also a deep appreciation for the arts, allowing our pupils to grow as compassionate, kind, courageous, and well-rounded individuals,” it says. RGSGD is a British curriculum school, located in Tilal Al Ghaf, for boys and girls and open for admissions from FS1 to Year 9.