The year he turned 22, he made his debut as a soloist with the Los Angeles Philharmonic. He earned a bachelor’s degree at the University of Southern California and completed a master’s program at the Juilliard School. In 2001, he joined Sejong Soloists and visited Korea for the first time as a member.
The breakthrough yearThe year he turned 26, KBS’s Human Theater told the story of his mother’s family, and he became known in Korea.
In 2005, he was nominated for a Grammy for the first time. In 2006, his second album Nunmul (Tears) was the year’s best seller in both classical and international pop. He also played the children’s song “Seomjip Aegi,” which he had come across while learning Korean, for his mother, and put it on an album. In 2007, he formed Ensemble DITTO with Credia and became its music director, and began teaching at UCLA.
In 2008, he published the essay book Gonggam on his family history and appeared in a cameo in MBC’s Beethoven Virus. At the end of the year, he released the Baroque album Mysterioso and was named a special representative for the UNICEF Korea Committee. Ensemble DITTO grew into the Ditto Festival and ranked first in paid attendance at the Seoul Arts Center. In 2010, he was nominated for a Grammy for the second time.
In 2012, he formed the Hello?! Orchestra with children from multicultural families and became its music director and conductor. In 2013, a documentary about the orchestra won the International Emmy for arts programming, the first win for a Korean program. In 2015, he took part in the soundtrack of the film The Himalayas with Sumi Jo. In 2016, he played the complete Beethoven string quartets with the Ehnes Quartet and published an essay book on the experience.
In 2017, he held Ensemble DITTO’s 10th anniversary festival, “Carnival.” Two years later, Ensemble DITTO gave its final performance after 12 years. In 2020, he turned a planned recital into the COVID-19 hope concert “A Prayer for You” and joined the Takács Quartet as its new violist. The year he turned 43, he won the Grammy for Best Classical Instrumental Solo for a recording of Theofanidis’s viola concerto.
In 2022, he toured Korea for the first time since joining the Takács Quartet. In December 2023, he played the year-end concert “Gift: Baroque Melodies.” In 2024, he played a concerto for Sejong Soloists’ 30th anniversary, which was also 20 years since his Korean debut. In 2025, he visited Korea with the Takács Quartet and the soprano Park Hye-sang, and at year’s end gave a duo recital with the pianist Jeremy Denk. In 2026, he toured duo recitals with the pianist Park Jong-hae.
Richard Yongjae O’Neill (born Dec 31, 1978) debuted in 2000, the year he turned 22, as a soloist with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, and became known in Korea through KBS’s Human Theater in 2004, the year he turned 26. He won his first Grammy on Mar 14, 2021, the year he turned 43.
Ages are by calendar year (the year minus the birth year), birthdays aside.