Shin-Heae Kang


Biography Shin-Heae Kang

Shin-Heae Kang

Shin-Heae Kang
a German pianist of Korean origin, was born in 1987 in Kiel.

At the age of two she began playing the piano by ear. She received her first piano lessons at the age of three. At the age of six she began studying the piano at the University for Music in Lübeck and in 2001 continued studying at the University for Music, Theatre and Media in Hanover with Professor Karl-Heinz Kämmerling.

She has received important artistic input from the pianist and mentor Martha Argerich for many years and is strongly supported by her.

She has received her Highschool diploma with distinction from the scientifically oriented Max-Planck-Gymnasium in Kiel with Physics and French as main subjects. She wrote her thesis on the theme “Scientific knowledge and artistic interpretation – Observations on the Third Piano Sonata by Johannes Brahms”, which scored the highest rating and also an award. She speaks four languages.

Shin-Heae Kang performed her first concert at the age of five. When she was nine, she gave her first piano concerto with an orchestra, where she played Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 8, KV 246. This was followed by numerous piano concertos and piano recitals. At the age of twelve, she gave her first philharmonic debut at the Great Hall of the Berlin Philharmonic, where she performed the Piano Concerto No. 1 by Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy together with the Berlin Symphony Orchestra. In the same year she performed the Piano Concerto No. 2 in F minor by Frédéric Chopin. At 15, she played the Hungarian Fantasy for piano and orchestra by Franz Liszt and the “Konzertstück” in F minor also for piano and orchestra by Carl Maria von Weber in a concert and in 2003 the Piano Concerto in G major by Maurice Ravel, the Piano Concerto for Three Pianos KV 242 by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart with the State Orchestra Braunschweig and both piano concertos by Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy in the Great Hall of the Laeiszhalle in Hamburg with brilliant success. These were followed by further numerous piano concertos with various renowned orchestras and conductors.

She has performed in various cities in Europe, in Asia and the USA. She performed at the World Exposition (EXPO) in Hanover, in the Great Hall at Schloss Elmau, in the Great Hall of the Castle in Kiel, the Great Hall of the Laeiszhalle in Hamburg, in the Great Hall of the German House in Flensburg, at the Great Hall of the Berlin Philharmonic, in the Brunswick City Hall, in the Wiener Saal in Salzburg, in the Great Hall of the Theatre in San Juan (Puerto Rico), in the Mariinsky Theatre in Saint Petersburg, in Munich, Baden-Baden, Düsseldorf, Lugano, Gstaad, Florence, Rome, Mallorca, Barcelona, Incheon etc.

Shin-Heae Kang has been invited by many prestigious festivals such as the Kissinger Sommer, the Classix-Festival in Brunswick, the summer festival of the Alps Klassiks in Bad Reichenhall, the festival in Passau, Bodensee Festival among others. She has also received invitations from the Brahms Society of Schleswig-Holstein and the Brahms Scientific Research Centre in Kiel, the Brahms Society in Baden-Baden for chamber music events in the Brahms House, the Robert Schumann Society in Düsseldorf and the Robert Schumann Society in Zwickau, playing piano recitals. 2008 she received an invitation from the U.S., where she gave a highly acclaimed American recital debut in the Great Hall of the Theater in San Juan, Puerto Rico, and where she has given masterclasses and lectures at the University. She gave further masterclasses in Germany.

At the invitation of Martha Argerich Shin-Heae Kang gave a brilliant piano recital debut at the Festival Progetto Martha Argerich in Lugano in Switzerland in 2012. In 2015 she gave a recital debut at the Mariinsky International Piano Festival in the Mariinsky Theatre in Saint Petersburg in Russia and she has also given a recital debut at the Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival with brilliant success. In 2017 she gave her recital debut in South Korea, which was receiving overwhelming reactions by the audience and the media, and she received re-invitations for the coming years.

She has received numerous music awards, special prizes and scholarships from various institutions and won many piano competitions. She received scholarships including from the Marie-Luise-Imbusch-Foundation Lübeck, she was supported by different International Lions Clubs and Rotary Clubs and the Zonta-Club. In 2005 she studied as the youngest-ever Fellow of the Wilhelm-Kempff-Foundation performing all of Beethoven´s piano sonatas and piano concertos on the special Beethoven course in Positano. In 2006 she was awarded as the youngest-ever winner in the history of the German Order of Druids and received the Prize of Honour, an award previously won by Karlheinz Böhm and the theologian Hans Küng. 2012 and 2015 she received an invitation from the International Brahms Foundation for a work-stay at the Brahms House in Baden-Baden. She was also invited by NDR Kultur (Northern German Broadcasting) “Podium der Jungen” making recordings in the Rolf-Liebermann-Studio Hamburg for a portrait.

She has been guest on several radio and television programmes in Europe, in Asia and the USA.

For the season 2019 / 2020 different concert projects are planned. Besides others she will play in the New Year´s Concert of the NDR Radiophilharmonie together with Martha Argerich on two pianos and the NDR Radiophilharmonie Orchestra under the direction of chief conductor Andrew Manze in Hanover. They will reopen the new renovated Concert Hall Großer Sendesaal des NDR Landesfunkhauses performing the Double Concerto for two pianos and orchestra by Francis Poulenc. In September 2019 a CD recording with works for Solo Piano by Franz Liszt will be released internationally on the Label Oehms Classics.

As well as playing the piano she has also taken violin and flute lessons and was very active in sports. She was national champion in Rhythmic Sports Gymnastics. Starting in 1994 Shin-Heae Kang studied the classical guitar as a second instrument in addition to the piano. 1997 she continued studying the guitar also at the University for Music in Lübeck. She has also given guitar concerts and she also won the first prize in the German national competition Jugend musiziert on this instrument as well. Shin-Heae Kang plays chamber music as well with big joy and great passion.

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