Alon Goldstein & Yun Byun, Piano February 2, 2010

Downtown Piano Works warmly welcomes back our favorite, international concert pianist Alon Goldstein, and Yun Byun to our Fine Artist Concert Series for an amazing evening of works for two pianos celebrating Chopin's 200th birthday! As always, there is no charge for admission but space is limited to 65. Please RSVP (301) 631-1234 to guarantee a seat for this performance.

Alon Goldstein made his orchestral debut at the age of 18 with the Israeli Philharmonic under the baton of Maestro Zubin Mehta, and in April of 2008 made a triumphant return with Maestro Herbert Blomstedt with Beethoven Concerto No. 1, the same concerto he played the year before with the Philadelphia Orchestra.In recent seasons, Alon has performed with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Philadelphia Orchestra, the San Francisco, St. Louis, Baltimore, Dallas, Houston, Vancouver, Kansas City and North Carolina Symphonies, the Rhode Island Philharmonic, and orchestras on tour in Paris, Russia, Romania and Bulgaria. His recent Beethoven concerto cycle with the Rockford Symphony, which expanded the traditional concert experience to a multi-media presentation contextualizing Beethoven’s life and work,resulted in unprecedented attendance and subsequent subscriptions. In November 2009 the Kansas City Symphony, under the baton of music director Michael Stern gave the world premier performance of a piano concerto written for Alon by rising star Israeli composer Avner Dorman. Other 2009-10 season appearances with orchestra include Chopin Concerto no. 2 with the Delaware Symphony, MozartConcerto K. 453 with the Jerusalem Symphony and a return engagement with the Bucharest Philharmonic 'George Enescu'. In the 2008-2009 season, Alon made his Carnegie Hall debut in the Mozart Triple Concerto with Joseph Kalichstein and Shai Wosner. He returned to the Rockford Symphony with a series of concerts illuminating the works of Brahms and Schumann, again resulting in enthusiastic audience attendance and response.

Yun Ha Byun started her piano studies at the age of three in Seoul, Korea. After graduating from high school, she wanted to enhance her understanding of music and decided to study at Indiana University with Edward Auer. She achieved the highest mark possible for her entrance audition and has been awarded the Music Dean’s Award for Study, the second prize in Indiana University’s Concerto Competition, and a scholarship from the Minnesota Symphony Orchestra’s Young Artist Competition. After Yun moved to Baltimore to study at Peabody Institute, she participated in many competitions and received numerous awards. She was a recipient of the Peabody Career Develoment Award twice. Yun has participated in many Masterclasses as well as the Aspen Music Festival and the Tel-Hai International Piano Masterclasses with Gabriel Chodos, Alon Goldstein, Yoni Farhi, Asaf Zohar and Alan Weiss. Recently she appeared in the Exploritas concert series at Peabody Institute and a benefit concert in Annapolis with Brian Ganz, who is a faculty member at Peabody Institute. She was invited to give masterclasses at St. Mary’s College in Maryland as well.

Currently, Yun is pursuing her Master’s Degree at Peabody Institute working with Professor Brian Ganz and pianist Alon Goldstein. In the near future, her next public recital is scheduled for the Harmony Hall Concert Series in Fort Washington, Maryland in Feb 2010. Yun is pursuing her master’s degree at Peabody Institute working with Brian Ganz and pianist Alon Goldstein.