Concert April 25 and 26, 2026, 5:00 PM - piano

Following the extraordinary success of last weekend's trio concerts, South Korean pianist Youl Sun returns as a soloist to Giardini La Mortella on April 25th and 26th.

Youl Sun is considered one of the most exciting young talents on the international scene in recent years, having won an impressive series of prestigious international awards, including First Prize at the Gina Bachauer International Competition (Audience Award and Student Jury Award) and, most recently in 2026, Second Prize and the Award for Best Interpretation of a 20th-Century Work at the Ljubljana Festival Competition. Selected as an Artist M by the Mapo Cultural Foundation, he has won First Prize at the Seoul International Competition, the Isang Yun International Music Competition, the Maria Canals International, the Istanbul Orchestra Sion International Competition, the Asia Pacific Chopin Competition, the Shinhan Music Award, and Second Prize and the Audience Award at the Viseu International Piano Competition. Youl has performed in major concert halls throughout Asia, Europe, and the USA, as well as at international festivals, with prestigious orchestras and renowned conductors.
He began his piano studies in South Korea at the Yewon School, the Seoul Arts High School, and the Korea National University of Arts, later pursuing further studies in Europe, including in France at the Schola Cantorum de Paris and the École Normale de Musique de Paris. He is currently studying in Paris with Maestro Olivier Gardon, receiving a scholarship from the Hyundai Motor Chung Mong-Koo Foundation.

The program that Youl Sun will present to the audience at La Mortella is of great interest and depth, both artistically, musically, and technically. In particular, in Sunday's concert, she will perform all twelve Transcendental Etudes by Franz Liszt, widely considered among the most difficult compositions in the entire piano repertoire. In these Etudes, Liszt completely revolutionized performance technique, verging on "the edge of the impossible in piano technique," while simultaneously exploring a wide range of emotional atmospheres.

Fondazione William Walton e La Mortella
Via Francesco Calise 45, 80075, Forio (NA)
tel.: 081-986220, 081-986237