Pianist Son Yeol-eum performs at a memorial concert honoring the late Park Seong-yawng, honorary chair of Kumho Asiana Group, Friday at Kumho Art Hall in Seoul. (Kumho Art Hall)
Pianist Son Yeol-eum performs at a memorial concert honoring the late Park Seong-yawng, honorary chair of Kumho Asiana Group, Friday at Kumho Art Hall in Seoul. (Kumho Art Hall)

Pianist Son Yeol-eum performs Friday night at Kumho Art Hall Yonsei in Seoul as part of a special recital commemorating the late Park Seong-yawng, honorary chair of Kumho Asiana Group, who passed away 20 years ago. Park was an important patron of young classical musicians, with Son among the many whose careers he helped nurture. (Kumho Art Hall Yonsei)

Son, a piano prodigy, was part of the first cohort of the Kumho Young Artist Concert, a program Park launched after becoming chair of the Kumho Cultural Foundation in 1996.

Under Park's leadership, the foundation established a pipeline of programs — Kumho Prodigy, Kumho Young Artist and Kumho Young Chamber — that became key stepping-stones for Korea’s emerging classical talents. To date, more than 2,000 musicians have come through these initiatives. Among the notable alumni are Kim Sun-wook, Cho Seong-jin, Sunwoo Yekwon, Kim Bomsori, Yang In-mo, Lim Ji-young, Choi Ha-young, Lim Yunchan and Han Jae-min, all of whom now perform on stages around the world.

Park Seong-yawng, honorary chair of Kumho Asiana Group (Kumho Art Hall)
Park Seong-yawng, honorary chair of Kumho Asiana Group (Kumho Art Hall)

gypark@heraldcorp.com