Kyung Wha Chung & Kevin Kenner, Royal Festival Hall

Kyung Wha Chung is back on stage in top form, to the delight of her many fans, particularly in her native Korea, where she’s a bit of a superstar. Last year, she toured Asia in front of huge and enthusiastic audiences; this year, it’s Europe’s turn to once again enjoy her beautifully expressive and passionate playing. And as London's live music venues go, the RFH is the perfect place for her to demonstrate her prodigious skills.
Chung’s violin prowess was evident when, in 1957, at the age of just nine, she performed the Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto with the Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra. But it was her London debut in 1970, playing the Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto with André Previn and the London Symphony Orchestra, which catapulted her to international stardom – the first classical musician from Korea to do so, and just as unusual at the time, a woman in what was overwhelmingly a male world.
In the decades since, Chung has collaborated with top orchestras and conductors around the world, performed recitals and chamber music, and made over thirty critically acclaimed recordings. She has also played regularly with her brother, conductor-pianist Myung Whun Chung, and her sister, cellist Myung Wha Chung.
In this upcoming RFH concert, Kyung Wha Chung is joined by the American-born pianist Kevin Kenner. Kenner won top prize at the 1990 Warsaw Chopin piano competition, earning him comparisons with the great Chopin interpreters Arthur Rubinstein, Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli and Dinu Lipatti. As well as solo work, he has toured and recorded with the Piazzoforte Ensemble.
Thus, London's classical music continues to thrive. The pair's programme will comprise violin sonatas by Mozart, Prokofiev, and Franck, as well as a Bach Chaconne. After such a long absence from London, many people are eagerly waiting to hear Chung’s sublime violin-playing resonate again.