Hyung-ki Joo

The pianist and composer Hyung-ki Joo uses his creative energy to develop new concert formats and to bring classical music closer to a wide audience. He steps into the spotlight in various roles: as pianist, conductor, creative director, communicator, mentor and composer.

He has performed as a soloist with the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen, the Orchestra dell’Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, the London Philharmonic Orchestra, the Vienna Symphony Orchestra and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. Recent highlights include conceiving and directing the opening of the 2023 Wiener Festwochen and leading the Hong Kong Sinfonietta with his project Haydn Seek. With Asmik Grigorian, he co-created A Diva is Born, which caused a sensation at the Vienna State Opera in 2024.

His compositions have been performed by well-known orchestras and soloists such as the New York Philharmonic, the Tonhalle Orchestra Zurich, Emanuel Ax, Daniel Hope and Yuja Wang, and recorded by Shani Diluka and the Ahn Trio. In autumn 2025, two recordings featuring his music will be released: the Miró Quartet’s holiday album Hearth (Pentatone) and Circle (Piano Classics), in which Sun Hee You performs Joo’s piano compositions.

Joo’s love for chamber music has shaped his musical career with collaborators including Martin Fröst, Janine Jansen, Mischa Maisky, Julian Rachlin, the Belcea Quartet and Quatuor Ébène. In the vocal field, he has worked with Dame Felicity Lott, Sunhae Im, Valentina Naforniţa, Julian Prégardien, Nadine Sierra and Pretty Yende, and has upcoming projects with Andreas Schager.

Beyond the classical world, Joo arranged and recorded Billy Joel’s Fantasies and Delusions for Sony Classical, and has appeared in films such as Pianomania, And So it Goes, Breaking Beethoven and Breaking Rachmaninoff. His duo Igudesman & Joo, whose fusion of music, humour and pop culture ignited the internet and has toured the globe, has been frequently joined by guests such as Joshua Bell, Emanuel Ax, Viktoria Mullova, Yuja Wang, John Malkovich and Sir Roger Moore. Their book Rette die Welt was published by the Viennese publishing house edition-a. At the end of 2025, the duo will retire from the concert stage with farewell performances worldwide, including in Salzburg.

Dedicated to education, Joo leads his Beyond the Practice Room workshops and works regularly with students and youth orchestras. He is artistic director of the Menuhin Competition, serves on international juries such as the Cleveland International Piano Competition, mentors young musicians at the Yehudi Menuhin School, and contributes fingerings for Henle Verlag. He is the recipient of an honorary doctorate from the Manhattan School of Music.

Hyung-ki Joo’s multifaceted career continues to push artistic boundaries, blending virtuosity, creativity and education to inspire musicians and audiences worldwide.