A MODERN
BIOGRAPHY ARCHIVE
THE COLLECTION / MusicARCHIVE № 075
1948 —   VIOLINIST

KYUNG WHACHUNG

Chung Kyung-whaMar 26, 1948South Korea

What happened at what age?
Where were they at your age?

In 1958, the year she turned 10, she won first place in the violin division of the Ewha Competition. As a young child she played the Mendelssohn concerto with the Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra. In 1961, the year she turned 13, she entered the Juilliard School in the U.S. on a full scholarship and studied with Ivan Galamian.

The breakthrough yearThe year she turned 19, she shared first place with Pinchas Zukerman at the Leventritt Competition at Carnegie Hall in New York, six years after entering Juilliard. Segye Ilbo and Kukmin Ilbo report that the win made her name known to the world.

In 1970, the year she turned 22, she replaced Itzhak Perlman to play the Tchaikovsky concerto with the London Symphony Orchestra, and after that concert she recorded her first album for Decca. In 1973, she received the Edison Award for her album of the Stravinsky and Walton concertos. In 1982, she played Carnegie Hall as the Chung Trio with Chung Myung-wha and Chung Myung-whun. In 1984, she married and around this time moved her base from Europe to the U.S.

In 1988, she left Decca to become an exclusive EMI artist. In 1994, she received a Gramophone Award for her album of the Bartók violin concerto. In 1995, she was the only classical performer named to Asiaweek’s “20 Great Asians.” In 1997, she held a festival in Korea and Britain for the 30th anniversary of her world-stage debut.

In 2001, she released the Brahms concerto with the Vienna Philharmonic under Simon Rattle. In September 2005, she hurt a finger of her left hand and stopped performing. In 2007, she became a professor at her alma mater, the Juilliard School.

In May 2010, she returned to the stage after five years, playing the Brahms concerto with the Philharmonia Orchestra at the Seoul Arts Center, and became co-artistic director of the Daegwallyeong International Music Festival. In 2011, she received the Ho-Am Prize in the Arts and gave her first recitals in nine years. In 2012, she became an endowed professor at Ewha Womans University. In December 2014, she played at the Royal Festival Hall in London, her first British appearance in 12 years.

In 2016, she released all of Bach’s sonatas and partitas for solo violin, her first album in 15 years. In 2017, she played the complete set in a single day at Carnegie Hall. In 2018, she stepped down as artistic director of the PyeongChang festival and released her 33rd album, Beau Soir.

In December 2020, she played the complete Brahms violin sonatas with Kim Sun-wook. In March 2021, she canceled her Tongyeong International Music Festival concerts because of a left-hand injury. In 2023, she played as a duo with her brother Chung Myung-whun for the first time in 30 years. In 2025, after a Korean tour with Kevin Kenner, she returned to the Carnegie Hall stage after eight years.

Kyung Wha Chung (born Mar 26, 1948) entered the Juilliard School in 1961, the year she turned 13, and became known on May 16, 1967, the year she turned 19, when she took joint first place at the Leventritt Competition. On May 13, 1970, the year she turned 22, she made her European debut with the London Symphony Orchestra.

Ages are by calendar year (the year minus the birth year), birthdays aside.

Full timeline · 43 records1958 — 2025   ＋
AGE / YEAR

  1. 10 · 1958
    Debut

    First place at the Ewha Competition; plays with the Seoul Philharmonic

    Won first place and a special prize in the violin division of the Ewha Competition. At a young age she played the Mendelssohn concerto with the Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra, and Korea Economic Daily describes that performance as her debut.

    Source 06 · Shin Dong-a (Korean) · The dreaming violinist Kyung Wha Chung · opens in a new tabSource 04 · Korea Economic Daily (Korean) · Kyung Wha Chung’s Carnegie Hall recital at 77 · opens in a new tabSource 05 · Seoul Shinmun (Korean) · Who is Kyung Wha Chung? · opens in a new tabSource 33 · Namuwiki (Korean) · Chung Kyung-wha · opens in a new tab The competition year follows the Shin Dong-a chronology. Korea Economic Daily and Seoul Shinmun give only her age (nine) for the Seoul Philharmonic concert, not the year; that this concert followed the 1958 win is from Namuwiki and was not confirmed in news reports.
  2. 13 · 1961
    Study abroad

    Enters the Juilliard School in the U.S.

    Entered on a full scholarship and studied with Ivan Galamian. She says the scores her teacher gave her then were Bach’s sonatas and partitas for solo violin.

    Source 06 · Shin Dong-a (Korean) · The dreaming violinist Kyung Wha Chung · opens in a new tabSource 05 · Seoul Shinmun (Korean) · Who is Kyung Wha Chung? · opens in a new tabSource 02 · Kukmin Ilbo (Korean) · At Carnegie Hall for the first time in eight years · opens in a new tab The Shin Dong-a chronology and her own account in the Kukmin Ilbo interview give 1961. In a 2011 Financial News interview she says she went to the U.S. in 1960, when she was 12, so the years differ.
  3. 22 · 1970
    Key moment

    London debut

    Replacing Itzhak Perlman, who canceled because his wife was giving birth, she played the Tchaikovsky concerto with the London Symphony Orchestra under André Previn. After this concert she recorded her first album with the London Symphony Orchestra at Decca’s suggestion.

    Source 07 · JoongAng Ilbo (Korean) · Kim Ho-jung’s The Classic, the 1970 London concert · opens in a new tabSource 01 · Segye Ilbo (Korean) · Back on the Carnegie Hall stage · opens in a new tabSource 04 · Korea Economic Daily (Korean) · Kyung Wha Chung’s Carnegie Hall recital at 77 · opens in a new tabSource 10 · Yonhap News Agency (Korean) · Return to the British stage · opens in a new tab
  4. 25 · 1973
  5. 32 · 1980
  6. 34 · 1982
  7. 36 · 1984
  8. 37 · 1985
  9. 38 · 1986
  10. 40 · 1988
  11. 46 · 1994
  12. 47 · 1995
  13. 49 · 1997
    Performance

    Festival for the 30th anniversary of her world-stage debut

    Gave recitals and chamber orchestra concerts in six cities nationwide through Mar. 5, appearing as violinist and conductor with the chamber orchestra she had founded the year before. A festival at the Barbican Centre in London followed in October.

    Source 14 · Yonhap News Agency (Korean) · Kyung Wha Chung Festival in Korea, Britain and Japan · opens in a new tabSource 17 · Kukmin Ilbo (Korean) · Regional tour · opens in a new tab The schedule follows Yonhap’s advance article of Feb. 13, 1997, before the concerts.
  14. 53 · 2001
  15. 57 · 2005
  16. 57 · 2005
    Injury

    Stops playing after a finger injury

    She hurt a finger of her left hand ahead of the Kirov Orchestra’s Korean visit and did not appear on stage for the next five years.

    Source 18 · Kukmin Ilbo (Korean) · Press conference on her first recitals in nine years · opens in a new tabSource 19 · Yonhap News Agency (Korean) · Review of the comeback concert · opens in a new tabSource 16 · Kyunghyang Shinmun (Korean) · Press conference on the complete Bach album · opens in a new tab Yonhap’s 2010 article gives the fourth finger of the left hand and Kyunghyang Shinmun’s 2016 article the left index finger. Yonhap says the Kirov concert was canceled, while Kukmin Ilbo says she went ahead with a changed piece, so they differ.
  17. 59 · 2007
  18. 62 · 2010
  19. 62 · 2010
  20. 62 · 2010
  21. 63 · 2011
  22. 63 · 2011
    Performance

    First recitals in nine years and a memorial concert for her mother

    Held a concert with Chung Myung-wha and Chung Myung-whun in memory of their mother, who died in May, and gave recitals in Incheon, Daejeon, Chuncheon and Seoul, her first since 2002. She first played with the pianist Kevin Kenner that year at the Daegwallyeong International Music Festival.

    Source 18 · Kukmin Ilbo (Korean) · Press conference on her first recitals in nine years · opens in a new tabSource 13 · Financial News (Korean) · The returning legend · opens in a new tabSource 15 · Yonhap News Agency (Korean) · Kyung Wha Chung and Kevin Kenner play the complete Brahms sonatas · opens in a new tab
  23. 64 · 2012
  24. 65 · 2013
    Performance

    Tour of seven cities in Greater China

    Began in Beijing and went on to Macao and Hong Kong, among others. She says she decided to record the complete Bach solo works after seeing an audience of 3,000 listen intently at the National Centre for the Performing Arts in Beijing.

    Source 05 · Seoul Shinmun (Korean) · Who is Kyung Wha Chung? · opens in a new tabSource 16 · Kyunghyang Shinmun (Korean) · Press conference on the complete Bach album · opens in a new tab The start date follows the Seoul Shinmun article of Oct. 8, 2013, before the tour.
  25. 66 · 2014
  26. 67 · 2015
  27. 68 · 2016
  28. 69 · 2017
  29. 69 · 2017
    Performance

    Complete Bach solo works at Carnegie Hall

    Fifty years after her competition win, she played all of Bach’s sonatas and partitas for solo violin at Carnegie Hall over three hours. Kukmin Ilbo writes that it was the first time in the hall’s 125 years that the complete set was played in a single day.

    Source 08 · Yonhap News Agency (Korean) · Complete Bach solo works at Carnegie Hall · opens in a new tabSource 02 · Kukmin Ilbo (Korean) · At Carnegie Hall for the first time in eight years · opens in a new tabSource 09 · JoongAng Ilbo (Korean) · Interview ahead of Carnegie Hall · opens in a new tab
  30. 70 · 2018
  31. 70 · 2018
  32. 70 · 2018
  33. 71 · 2019
    Performance

    Complete Brahms sonatas tour with Kevin Kenner

    Played all of the Brahms violin sonatas on a tour that began at Art Center Incheon and went on to Chuncheon and Gumi.

    Source 15 · Yonhap News Agency (Korean) · Kyung Wha Chung and Kevin Kenner play the complete Brahms sonatas · opens in a new tabSource 32 · Wikipedia (Korean) · Chung Kyung-wha · opens in a new tab The schedule follows Yonhap’s advance article of Aug. 20, 2019, before the concerts; that they took place rests on Wikipedia.
  34. 72 · 2020
  35. 73 · 2021
  36. 73 · 2021
  37. 74 · 2022
  38. 74 · 2022
  39. 75 · 2023
  40. 76 · 2024
  41. 77 · 2025
    Performance

    Four-city Korean tour with Kevin Kenner

    Began in Pyeongtaek and played Schumann, Grieg and Franck sonatas in Goyang, at Lotte Concert Hall in Seoul and in Tongyeong. At a press conference she said her health had recently been poor, including a leg injury.

    Source 34 · Herald Business (Korean) · Review of the Kyung Wha Chung and Kevin Kenner duo recital · opens in a new tabSource 02 · Kukmin Ilbo (Korean) · At Carnegie Hall for the first time in eight years · opens in a new tabSource 01 · Segye Ilbo (Korean) · Back on the Carnegie Hall stage · opens in a new tab
  42. 77 · 2025

END OF SELECTED RECORDSSelected records, 1958–2025 · not a complete list of work. “Key moment” is an editorial label, not a measure of success.

02 / QUICK ANSWERS

Q & AFrequently asked

How old was Kyung Wha Chung when she debuted?
Korea Economic Daily describes a performance with the Seoul Philharmonic at age nine as her debut. The Shin Dong-a chronology lists first place in the violin division of the Ewha Competition in 1958, the year she turned 10. Her official international debut was the London concert on May 13, 1970, the year she turned 22.
How old was Kyung Wha Chung when she became famous?
In 1967, the year she turned 19, she shared first place with Pinchas Zukerman at the Leventritt Competition at Carnegie Hall in New York. Segye Ilbo, Kukmin Ilbo and Kyunghyang Shinmun give this win as the point at which her name became known to the world. A 2014 Yonhap article gives her 1970 concert at the Royal Festival Hall in London as the occasion on which she first made her name known on the world stage.
What did Kyung Wha Chung do before she became known?
She began the violin at six and in 1961, the year she turned 13, entered the Juilliard School in the U.S. on a full scholarship, studying with Ivan Galamian. Her competition win came six years after she entered.
Why did Kyung Wha Chung stop performing for a time?
In Sep 2005, the year she turned 57, she hurt a finger of her left hand and did not appear on stage for five years. She worked as a professor at the Juilliard School in the meantime, and returned on May 4, 2010, the year she turned 62, playing with the Philharmonia Orchestra at the Seoul Arts Center.
How old is Kyung Wha Chung?
Born in 1948, she turns 78 in 2026 (78 as of Sep 22, 2026).
04 / ABOUT THE ARCHIVE

A LIFE,
IN CHAPTERS.

What did they do, and at what age?
AgeTrail lines up the key moments of a life by age.
Debut and breakthrough are marked separately, and every record has a source.

COLLECTION075Kyung Wha Chung / KYUNG WHA CHUNG

Music · South Korea
Mar 26, 1948 —

Sources and method35 SOURCES   ＋

Ages are counted from the birth year 1948: the year of the event minus 1948, birthdays aside. “Key moment” labels and the connecting story are AgeTrail's editorial reading.

  1. Segye Ilbo (Korean) · Back on the Carnegie Hall stage ↗Sept. 21, 2025: says she made her name known to the world with joint first place at the 1967 Leventritt Competition; her 1970 London debut (André Previn’s London Symphony Orchestra, replacing Itzhak Perlman, who canceled because his wife was giving birth; Tchaikovsky concerto) and the concerto album recorded at Decca’s suggestion; Gramophone Hall of Fame in 2017 and its 2022 list of the 30 greatest violinists of all time; concerts at Lotte Concert Hall on Sept. 24 and Carnegie Hall on Nov. 7
  2. Kukmin Ilbo (Korean) · At Carnegie Hall for the first time in eight years ↗Sept. 22, 2025: says she made her name known to the world as joint first with Zukerman in 1967; her own account of studying in the U.S. in 1961; the 2016 Bach album and the Carnegie Hall performance of the complete set the next year (the first time in the hall’s 125 years that it was played in a single day); working with Kevin Kenner since 2011; Korean tour dates (Pyeongtaek on the 13th, Goyang on the 21st, Seoul on the 24th, Tongyeong on the 26th) and North American dates
  3. Kyunghyang Shinmun (Korean) · Turning 70, her 33rd album ↗Mar. 27, 2018: the 26th was her 70th birthday; her 33rd album Beau Soir released by Warner Classics; began the violin at 6 and went to Juilliard at 13; says her 1967 win, at 19, made her name known on the world stage; her official international debut was in 1970 at the Royal Festival Hall in London; her own account of having two children after marrying
  4. Korea Economic Daily (Korean) · Kyung Wha Chung’s Carnegie Hall recital at 77 ↗Nov. 9, 2025: performed with Kevin Kenner at Carnegie Hall on the 7th, Schumann, Grieg and Franck sonatas, eight years after her 50th-anniversary concert. Debuted at nine playing with the Seoul Philharmonic; the 1967 final replay and joint first place; the 1970 London Symphony concert replacing Perlman led to an exclusive contract as the first Korean Decca artist
  5. Seoul Shinmun (Korean) · Who is Kyung Wha Chung? ↗Oct. 8, 2013: played the Mendelssohn concerto with the Seoul Philharmonic at 9; entered Juilliard at 13 on a full scholarship; invited to teach at Juilliard in 2007; a seven-city tour of Greater China beginning in Beijing on the 18th
  6. Shin Dong-a (Korean) · The dreaming violinist Kyung Wha Chung ↗May 13, 2018. Chronology: first place and special prize in the violin division of the Ewha Competition in 1958; went to the U.S. and entered Juilliard in 1961; first Decca recording in 1970; Edison Award in 1973; juror at the Queen Elisabeth Competition in 1980; married in 1984; Gramophone Award in 1994; selected by Asiaweek in 1995; Juilliard faculty in 2007
  7. JoongAng Ilbo (Korean) · Kim Ho-jung’s The Classic, the 1970 London concert ↗Mar. 18, 2024: on May 13, 1970 in London, a 22-year-old standing in played the Tchaikovsky concerto; from that day, two years of European engagements were booked within two weeks
  8. Yonhap News Agency (Korean) · Complete Bach solo works at Carnegie Hall ↗Carnegie Hall recital on May 18, 2017 (local time): all six Bach sonatas and partitas for solo violin over three hours. Says she stood on the Carnegie Hall stage on May 16, 1967 when she won
  9. JoongAng Ilbo (Korean) · Interview ahead of Carnegie Hall ↗May 1, 2017: her own account of going to New York at 13 and winning first prize six years later, in 1967, at a competition held at Carnegie Hall; her 20th Carnegie Hall performance
  10. Yonhap News Agency (Korean) · Return to the British stage ↗Dec. 2, 2014 (local time) at the Royal Festival Hall in London, her first British appearance in 12 years. Says that 44 years earlier, at 22, she played with the London Symphony Orchestra, the occasion on which she first made her name known on the world stage
  11. Asia Economy (Korean) · Recital preview ↗Sept. 18, 2023: with Decca from 1970 to 1988 and exclusive with EMI (Warner Classics) from 1988; Gramophone Hall of Fame, violin category, in 2017; artistic director of the Daegwallyeong International Music Festival for seven years from 2011
  12. Newsis (Korean) · Review of the Chung siblings’ first duo in 30 years ↗Chung Trio concert at the Seoul Arts Center on Sept. 5, 2023. The siblings’ first duo performance since 1993; cellist Jian Wang took part. The Chung Trio played Carnegie Hall in 1982 and made its first recording for Decca in 1986
  13. Financial News (Korean) · The returning legend ↗Nov. 21, 2011: says she married at 36 in 1984 and moved her base from Europe to the U.S.; her mother died in May 2011; memorial Chung Trio concert on Dec. 13. Her own account of going to the U.S. in 1960, when she was 12
  14. Yonhap News Agency (Korean) · Kyung Wha Chung Festival in Korea, Britain and Japan ↗Feb. 13, 1997: 30th anniversary of her debut on the world stage; six cities nationwide from Feb. 20 to Mar. 5; appeared as violinist and conductor with the chamber orchestra founded the year before; Barbican Centre in London, Oct. 8–17
  15. Yonhap News Agency (Korean) · Kyung Wha Chung and Kevin Kenner play the complete Brahms sonatas ↗Aug. 20, 2019: concerts previewed at Art Center Incheon on Sept. 19, in Chuncheon on the 22nd and in Gumi on the 27th. Won the Diapason d’Or for an EMI album after her 1995 Brahms tour
  16. Kyunghyang Shinmun (Korean) · Press conference on the complete Bach album ↗Oct. 5, 2016: her first album in 15 years, since the 2001 Brahms concerto with Simon Rattle and the Vienna Philharmonic; all six Bach solo sonatas and partitas on two CDs; her own account of deciding to record them after a performance at the National Centre for the Performing Arts in Beijing in October 2013
  17. Kukmin Ilbo (Korean) · Regional tour ↗Mar. 29, 2005: 10 regional cities from Apr. 9 to 23; a chamber orchestra of 15 young players; a Bach-centered repertoire
  18. Kukmin Ilbo (Korean) · Press conference on her first recitals in nine years ↗Nov. 21, 2011: stopped playing with finger pain during the Kirov Orchestra’s Korean visit in September 2005; recitals in Incheon, Daejeon, Chuncheon and Seoul on Dec. 19, 21, 25 and 26 (first since 2002, nine years); memorial concert for her mother at Ewha Womans University’s main auditorium on Dec. 13
  19. Yonhap News Agency (Korean) · Review of the comeback concert ↗May 4, 2010 at the Seoul Arts Center: Brahms Violin Concerto with the Philharmonia Orchestra under Vladimir Ashkenazy. Five years after canceling the September 2005 performance with the Kirov Orchestra
  20. Dong-A Ilbo (Korean) · Appointed endowed professor at Ewha ↗Appointment effective May 1, 2012; her first post at a Korean university; held alongside her Juilliard professorship, which began in 2007
  21. Newsis (Korean) · 40th anniversary limited edition ↗Released by Universal Music on Jan. 21, 2010: 19 CDs and one DVD, limited to 5,000 sets
  22. Korea Economic Daily (Korean) · Artistic directors named for the Daegwallyeong festival ↗July 25, 2010: Chung Myung-wha and Kyung Wha Chung appointed as successors to Kang Hyo; new artistic directors from September
  23. Yonhap News Agency (Korean) · Ho-Am Prize winners announced ↗Announced Apr. 5, 2011: 21st Ho-Am Prize in the Arts. After Chung Myung-whun, who won in 1997, the first siblings to win the Ho-Am Prize; ceremony on June 1
  24. Edaily (Korean) · Honorary doctorate from NEC ↗New England Conservatory’s 144th commencement in Boston on May 17, 2015 (local time). The only classical performer named among Asiaweek’s “20 Great Asians” in 1995
  25. Asia Economy (Korean) · Steps down as artistic director of the Pyeongchang festival ↗Press conference on Jan. 24, 2018: announced that she and Chung Myung-wha would leave their posts as artistic directors after the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Music Festival
  26. Newsis (Korean) · Review of the Kyung Wha Chung and Cho Seong-jin duo ↗Aram Music Hall, Goyang Aram Nuri, Sept. 1, 2018. An age difference of 46 years; their first performance together in six years, since her 2012 recital; Franck Violin Sonata
  27. Yonhap News Agency (Korean) · Review of the Kyung Wha Chung and Kim Sun-wook duo recital ↗In-person concert at Seongnam Arts Center on Dec. 20, 2020 and online concert at Daegu Concert House on the 26th (about 1,700 watched live). Brahms Violin Sonatas Nos. 1, 2 and 3
  28. Herald Business (Korean) · Tongyeong International Music Festival concerts canceled ↗Mar. 21, 2021: canceled the complete Bach performance at the Tongyeong International Music Festival on the 28th and 30th and the Incheon concert because of a left index finger injury
  29. Dong-A Ilbo (Korean) · Sungjung Artist Award ↗Fourth Sungjung Artist Award presented on Nov. 23, 2021 at the Sungjung Cultural Foundation’s 40th anniversary concert at the Seoul Arts Center; prize money of 30 million won
  30. Chosun Ilbo (Korean) · Shin Soo-jung’s 80th birthday concert ↗Apr. 29, 2022 at Mozart Hall in Seocho-dong. Played Mozart’s Violin Sonata (K. 547) with Shin Soo-jung
  31. Yonhap News Agency (Korean) · Review of the Kyung Wha Chung and Lim Dong-hyek duo recital ↗Seoul Arts Center Concert Hall, Sept. 6, 2024. Brahms Sonata No. 3 and the Franck Sonata; their first performance together in seven years, since 2017
  32. Wikipedia (Korean) · Chung Kyung-wha ↗Basis for items not confirmed in news reports, such as her birth date and the account that she gave a tour of the complete Brahms sonatas in 2019
  33. Namuwiki (Korean) · Chung Kyung-wha ↗English spelling (Kyungwha Chung); the account that she performed the Mendelssohn concerto with the Seoul Philharmonic as the winner of a 1958 competition organized by Ewha Womans University
  34. Herald Business (Korean) · Review of the Kyung Wha Chung and Kevin Kenner duo recital ↗Lotte Concert Hall in Seoul, Sept. 24, 2025. A Korean tour that began in Pyeongtaek (the 13th), went through Goyang (the 21st) and continued to Tongyeong (the 26th); Schumann, Grieg and Franck sonatas. Says the 1967 Leventritt Competition was what made her known on the international stage
  35. Yonhap News Agency (Korean) · Ho-Am Prize ceremony photo ↗Received the prize in the arts at the 21st Ho-Am Prize ceremony at Ho-Am Art Hall in Seoul on June 1, 2011

Fact-checked: 2026.09.22 · An independent archive, not affiliated with the person or their agency.