South Korean pianist Seonghyeon Leem is establishing a reputation as one of the most captivating musicians of her generation. She made her European debut at the Mozarthaus Konzertsaal in Vienna and has since performed at prestigious venues including the Salzburger Festspiele, Salle Cortot in Paris, Arsenal in Metz, Palais des Beaux-Arts in Brussels, and on MDR Television in Leipzig. Her recent engagements encompass solo recitals and concerto appearances throughout Germany, France, Austria, Belgium, Poland, Hungary, Türkiye, China, South Korea, and beyond.

Leem is the First Prize winner of the 2022 International Piano Competition Istanbul Orchestra’Sion and recipient of the 2023 International Pro Musicis Award. She is also a laureate of the 2024 ZF Music Award, the 66th Gian Battista Viotti International Music Competition, the 2017 Moscow International Piano Open Competition, the 2021 International Piano Competition Clamo Music, and the 2015 International Rosario Marciano Piano Competition.

As a soloist, Leem has performed major concertos including Beethoven’s Triple Concerto with the Mozarteum University Symphony Orchestra under Ion Marin at the Haus für Mozart at the Salzburger Festspiele (October 2022); Ravel’s Piano Concerto in G Major with the Südwestdeutsche Philharmonie and Hankyeol Yoon in Konstanz and Friedrichshafen (April 2023); Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 21 in C Major with Orchestra’Sion and Orçun Orçunsel in Istanbul (November 2022); Schumann’s Piano Concerto with the Orchester der Musikalischen Komödie and Matthias Foremny in Leipzig (June 2024); and Chopin’s Piano Concerto No. 1 with Orchestra Giocoso and Mariusz Smolij in Aix-en-Provence (August 2024).

Leem holds an undergraduate degree with honors from Seoul National University, where she studied under Prof. Aviram Reichert. She earned her Master’s and Postgraduate degrees with Prof. Jacques Rouvier at the Mozarteum University Salzburg, and completed her Meisterklassenexamen at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater Leipzig, studying under Prof. Christian A. Pohl, where she also served as his teaching assistant.

She considers herself a protégé of Paul Gulda and Eunju Heo and has received guidance in masterclasses from renowned musicians including Paul Badura-Skoda, Menahem Pressler, Arie Vardi, Elisabeth Leonskaja, and Maxim Vengerov.

An active pedagogue, Seonghyeon Leem has given masterclasses in Toulouse and Hamburg and served as a jury member for the MaiFestival Competition. She was a faculty member at the Musica Mundi Festival in 2022 and 2023. Leem is a member of the New Leipzig Chopin Society and a recipient of the 2023/24 Elfrun Gabriel Stiftung Scholarship, which supported her numerous recital performances throughout Germany.

Currently, she teaches piano at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater Leipzig.