Violinist Yezu Woo
![](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/4bed35_e3cb8bc653c44003b3d6840fd87558c1~mv2.jpg/v1/fill/w_912,h_606,al_c,q_85,usm_0.66_1.00_0.01,enc_avif,quality_auto/4bed35_e3cb8bc653c44003b3d6840fd87558c1~mv2.jpg)
Praised for "her technical quality, the beauty of sound, and above all, the projection of an uncommon musical sensibility" (El Norte, Monterrey), Violinist Yezu Elizabeth Woo continues to push the boundaries of her art, always seeking new challenges and opportunities for growth. She recently joined The
Overlook, praised for its "breathtaking" and "paradigm-shifting" (New York Music Daily)
qualities, and a quartet dedicated to a more relevant and representative chamber music experience.
Yezu debuted at Carnegie Hall at the age of sixteen, where she became the youngest performer to play all twenty-four of Niccolo Paganini's Caprices for solo violin. Yezu has been invited to perform at the Lincoln Center, United Nations (NY), the Smetana Hall (Prague), Musikverein (Vienna), Elbphilharmonie Hamburg, and the Berlin Philharmonie, and has recorded for EMI Classics, ECM Records, Ensemble Modern Medien, and MOOK Sound. Recently, the first comprehensive recording of all of Isang Yun's works for solo violin and with piano was released on KAIROS.
Winner of the Korean national award "Outstanding International Musician of the Year" by the Arts Critics Association (2002), as well as "Artist of the Year" by the Gangwon Foundation (2005), Yezu was appointed as Honorary Ambassador of the historic Woljeonga Temple (2023) and the City of Chuncheon (2016), where she currently serves as the Artistic Director of New York in Chuncheon Music Festival. This yearly chamber music festival takes place in Chuncheon, South Korea, with a mission to present world-class chamber music concerts, introduce contemporary music to new audiences, and inspire young music students through education and mentorship. Since its inception, the festival has given more than forty concerts in and around Chuncheon, with repertoire ranging from J. S. Bach to Dutilleux, Takemitsu, and Carter. This adventurous programming has resulted in Korean premieres of several major contemporary works, including John Zorn's Occam's Razor (2014), Caroline Shaw's Thousandth Orange (2019), Andrew Norman's Sabina from The Companion Guide to Rome (2019), and Nathan Schram's Woljeongsa I (2016) and II (2023). Committed equally to Korean traditional music and new music, Yezu has performed in Pyeongyang, North Korea (2008) and at the Korean Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) 'ART FESTA' as part of the ongoing peace process between the two Koreas, and collaborated with the KBS Korean Traditional Instruments Orchestra. She has also premiered over 20 works worldwide and worked with composers such as Rebecca Saunders, Unsuk Chin, Sir George Benjamin, and Heiner Goebbels.
Born in Freiburg, Germany, Yezu moved to the US from South Korea at age ten to study with Albert Markov. She received her B.M. Degree from the Manhattan School of Music, her M.M. Degree at The Juilliard School, her Performance Certificate from Bard Conservatory, and her Doctorate Degree at Stony Brook University. Her principal teachers include Albert Markov, Catherine Cho, Laurie Smukler, Arnaud Sussmann, and the members of the Emerson Quartet. Yezu is a recipient of the Fulbright Scholarship (2019-20) in Germany, where she was a member of the Ensemble Modern Academy, Frankfurt, and a researcher at the Isang-Yun-Haus in Berlin.
Yezu is a member of Delirium Musicum and Berlin Academy of American Music and frequently appears with Ensemble Modern, International Contemporary Ensemble, Orchestra of St. Luke's, and Novus NY.
THE STRAD
"Her technique is solid, with a strong bow arm, deft left hand and well-projected sound."
DAILY REPUBLIC (San Francisco)
"Woo's tone was astounding, more powerful and serious than one expects in any young artist. Her material was demanding, far from fanciful and frivolous, and seemed to suit her. There are few light passages in the Sibelius, and changes in dynamics and mood were seamless; once the music was well-launched, the joining of orchestra and soloist was fairly seamless as well."
EL NORTE (Monterrey, Mexico)
"With an extraordinary combination of natural talent and a furious discipline, the Korean violinist amazingly achieved her technical quality, beauty of sound, and above all, the projection of an uncommon musical sensibility."
YOUR OBSERVER (Sarasota, Florida)
"Violinist Yezu Woo ... gave a colorful reading of four sections from Stravinsky’s “L’Histoire du Soldat,” that was so filled with swagger, we hardly missed the narration."