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Korea produced many superstars in the world of classical music scene over the past 40 years: in the late 60s and 70s Kyung-Wha Chung, Young Wook Kim, and Dong-Suk Kang.In the 80s and 90s Myung-Hoon Chung, Sumi Jo, Sarah Chang, Hye-Kyung Hong, and many others. The extraordinary musical talent of Koreans is now recognized all over the world. It is not unusual to see Korean musicians competing against each other over all the others in most international competitions held today. Some even call the Juilliard School the ”Koilliad” School, as there are so many talented Korean musicians attending there. The similar trend exists in Manhattan School, New England Conservatory, Peabody Conservatory, Indiana University and most other respected music schools in the US and in Europe .It is no wonder that even the top musicians of the world like Mstislav Rostropovich, Isaac Stern, and Itzhak Perlman learned to love to eat kimchee from their fellow Korean musicians.

The Korean Concert Society was founded as a non-profit cultural organization in the winter of 1979 to discover young musical talents from Korean-American community and present them in debut recitals in Washington metropolitan area. Several Korean-Americans and their friends dreamed of discovering the next generation of Kyung-Wha Chungs and helping them if they could.

The Society’s beginning was humble. The Society selected the artists by recommendation of friends. The members chipped in to pay for the cost of hall rental, transportation for the artists, and advertisement. The artists from out of town stayed in the members’ home to minimize the cost. As the Korean-American community grew over the years, the community support for the Society also grew. It took about 10 years before the Society could raise enough money from generous contributors to pay for the cost of presenting artists at the Kennedy Center once a year. Then it took another few years before the Society could afford to pay a token amount to the artist for appearing in their debut recital. Now the Society selects artist through a rigorous audition process and pays the artist $2,500 for appearing at the Kennedy Center.The Society’s growth over the years has been an indicator of the cultural maturity and sophistication of the Korean-American community in Washington area. The Korean Concert Society is truly a grass-roots cultural organization.

The Society’s presentation track record over the past 24 years is impeccable. Even though the Society always presents unknown musicians, as bound by its founding principle of discovering new talents, the raw talent of these young artists always impresses the audience. Now the Society has many faithful followers among Korean-Americans and mainstream Americans alike. The Washington Post regularly covers the Society’s presentation at the Kennedy Center.The Post critics are not always complimentary but never without respect for the talent of the musicians the Society presents. Many of these musicians have become international stars. Chee-Yun (‘88) is a top rated solo violinist in the US , Japan and Korea .David Kim (‘82) became the concertmaster of the Philadelphia Orchestra. Catherine Cho (‘91) is a respected teacher at the Juilliard School and one of the top chamber performers in the US . Sungwon Yang (‘93) is the most respected cello teacher and performer in Korea . Soovin Kim (‘95) in 1996 was the first American to win the Paganini Competition in 24 years and the youngest winner ever. International Sejong Soloists (‘98) became the best chamber ensemble in the world today. Daniel Lee (‘97) is considered the next cello phenomenon after Rostropovich. Yung Wook Yu’s (‘01) recently released CD is receiving critical claim. And the list goes on.

ABOUT US | A HISTORY OF THE SOCIETY | OUR ARTISTS | THE APPLICATION PROCESS | OPENING PAGE