The year he turned 11, he debuted with a recital at the Kumho Young Artist Concert, a stage where a player who passes an audition gives a one-hour solo recital. In 2008 he won first prize at the Moscow International Chopin Competition for Young Pianists.
In 2009 he became the youngest winner of the Hamamatsu International Piano Competition in Japan. Yonhap News Agency reported that he was the first Asian to win it. In December 2010 he played with Sejong Soloists at Carnegie Hall in New York. In 2011 he took third prize in piano at the International Tchaikovsky Competition.
In 2012 he passed the entrance exam for the Paris Conservatoire and left for France. In 2013, while studying abroad, he came home to play Beethoven’s Concerto No. 3 with the Gyeonggi Philharmonic Orchestra. In 2014 he took third prize at the Arthur Rubinstein International Piano Master Competition.
The breakthrough yearThe year he turned 21, in October, he became the first Korean to win the International Chopin Piano Competition. A live album released a month later sold 50,000 copies in a week.
In 2016 he signed with Deutsche Grammophon and released his first studio album. In 2017 he gave a recital at Carnegie Hall in New York, and in November he played with the Berlin Philharmonic for the first time. In 2019 he won the Daewon Music Award grand prize as its youngest recipient.
In 2021 he gave the world premiere of an unpublished Mozart piece in Salzburg. In 2022 he stood in as soloist with the Vienna Philharmonic at Carnegie Hall. In 2023 he won the Samsung Ho-Am Prize in the Arts as its youngest recipient.
In 2024 he served as an artist in residence at the Berlin Philharmonic for the 2024/25 season. In 2025 he released a complete Ravel solo piano album and was named Instrumentalist of the Year at the Opus Klassik awards in Germany. In 2026 he performed as the in-house artist for Lotte Concert Hall’s 10th anniversary.
Seong-Jin Cho (born May 28, 1994) debuted in 2005, the year he turned 11, with a recital at the Kumho Young Artist Concert, and became known on Oct 21, 2015, the year he turned 21, when he became the first Korean to win the International Chopin Piano Competition. His first studio album came out in 2016, the year he turned 22.
Ages are by calendar year (the year minus the birth year), birthdays aside.
02 / QUICK ANSWERS
Q & AFrequently asked
- How old was Seong-Jin Cho when he debuted?
- In 2005, the year he turned 11, he gave a recital at the Kumho Young Artist Concert. It is a stage where a player who passes an audition gives a one-hour solo recital.
- How old was Seong-Jin Cho when he became famous?
- On Oct 21, 2015, the year he turned 21. He became the first Korean to win the 17th International Chopin Piano Competition and also won the prize for the best performance of a Polonaise.
- What results did Seong-Jin Cho have at international competitions?
- He won the Moscow International Chopin Competition for Young Pianists in 2008, the year he turned 14, and the Hamamatsu International Piano Competition in 2009, the year he turned 15. He took third prize at the International Tchaikovsky Competition in 2011, the year he turned 17, and at the Arthur Rubinstein competition in 2014, the year he turned 20. He won the International Chopin Piano Competition in 2015, the year he turned 21.
- When did Seong-Jin Cho release his albums?
- A live album from the Chopin Competition came out first, on Nov 6, 2015. His first studio album, Chopin: Piano Concerto No. 1 and Ballades, followed on Nov 25, 2016. On Jan 17, 2025 he released Ravel: The Complete Solo Piano Works.
- How old is Seong-Jin Cho?
- Born in 1994, he turns 32 in 2026 (32 as of Sep 21, 2026).