Pianist Sohn Min-soo to perform Bach's masterpieces for solo piano

Published Oct 9, 2026 5:36 pm KST

New England professor shifts focus to Bach after acclaimed Beethoven cycle

Pianist Sohn Min-soo / Courtesy of Mok Production

“We live in an age flooded with information, when we are pressured to make quick choices. As a musician, I felt I needed to find my own way of expressing myself.”

Pianist Sohn Min-soo, 50, is often introduced as the teacher of Yunchan Lim, but he has continued to develop his own musical identity while teaching at the New England Conservatory in the United States and performing regularly on stage.

His latest release is the first book of Bach’s "The Well-Tempered Clavier," issued by British classical music label Hyperion, with which he signed an exclusive recording contract in July. It is his first album in six years, following his complete recording of Beethoven’s 32 piano sonatas in 2020, and his first Bach recording in 15 years, since his 2011 release of the Goldberg Variations.

His return to Bach stemmed from his reflections on how music can connect with society. Meeting with reporters at Sounds S in Yongsan District, Seoul, on Wednesday, Sohn said, “In Bach’s fugues, every single voice must be heard, however quiet or delicate it may be.”

“I chose Bach because I began asking how different voices can coexist harmoniously in an age when we are pressured to make quick choices and it is easy for the majority to follow one prominent voice,” he said.

For Sohn, Bach and Beethoven are composers who have helped him “find my identity and role as a musician and engage in a dialogue with the world through music.” Bach’s The Well-Tempered Clavier, comprising preludes and fugues in all 24 major and minor keys, is, in his words, “music that captures, across 24 journeys, almost every complex question, emotion and feeling that human beings can experience.”

Pianist Sohn Min-soo speaks during a press conference in Seoul, Thursday. Courtesy of Mok Production

Comparing the individual pieces to stars in the night sky, he said, “Each star matters in its own right, but there is also the feeling of embarking on a long journey as you gaze at all 24 stars within a single universe.”

Sohn said he approaches all his musical activities, including the new album, “with a sense of dedication to my two teachers,” referring to the late pianist Russell Sherman (1930-2023) and his wife, Kyung-byung Byun. After Sherman’s death, Byun gave Son scores with Sherman’s handwritten notes and markings. Studying those scores became the foundation for the new recording.

His teachings on Bach have also been passed on to his student Lim. When Lim released his own recording of the Goldberg Variations, he recalled Sohn’s teaching that “Bach is our greatest ancestor and our source.”

“The Well-Tempered Clavier was an important starting point in music history, as it explored how each of the 24 keys could have its own distinct character,” Son said. “It laid the foundation for countless composers, including Mozart, Beethoven, Chopin and Schumann, to discover their own musical worlds.”

Sohn began playing the piano at the age of 3 and drew attention as a rising star after becoming the first Korean to win the Honens International Piano Competition in Canada in 2006. But in 2008, he broke his right hand in an accident. While recovering, he practiced extensively with his left hand, only to strain it as well, leaving him unable to perform for a time. Even after completing his ambitious cycle of Beethoven’s complete piano sonatas in 2021, he continued to grapple with physical challenges involving his hands.

Having come through those difficult years, Sohn is steadily finding his own musical voice as an established pianist in a classical music world where attention is often concentrated on younger performers. “Every performer has a role to play,” he said. “I want to reflect on what I can do in my own place and communicate with audiences through music.”

To mark the album’s release, Sohn will give more than 20 performances in Korea and abroad. The tour begins at Shin Young Chamber Hall on Oct. 16, followed by 10 performances in Korea, including a concert at the Seoul Arts Center Concert Hall on Oct. 27. He will then continue the tour in Taiwan, Singapore and the United States.

“If recording was an exploration that took me deep into every single note, performing is a process of sharing with the audience what might happen in that one, unrepeatable moment,” Son said. “I hope these performances will offer people who love Bach’s music a chance to reflect on new meanings and ask new questions.”

This article from the Hankook Ilbo, the sister publication of The Korea Times, is translated by a generative AI system and edited by The Korea Times.

发布于2026年10月9日下午5:36（韩国标准时间）

新英格兰一位教授在广受好评的贝多芬全集之后，将研究重点转向巴赫。

钢琴家孙敏洙 / 由 Mok Production 提供

“我们生活在一个信息爆炸的时代，被迫迅速做出选择。作为一名音乐人，我觉得我需要找到属于自己的表达方式。”

50岁的钢琴家孙敏洙经常被介绍为林云灿的老师，但他在美国新英格兰音乐学院任教并定期在舞台上表演的同时，也不断发展自己的音乐风格。

他最新发行的专辑是巴赫《平均律钢琴曲集》第一册，由英国古典音乐厂牌Hyperion发行。今年7月，他与该厂牌签订了独家录音合约。这是他继2020年录制贝多芬32首钢琴奏鸣曲全集之后，时隔六年发行的首张专辑；也是他自2011年发行《哥德堡变奏曲》以来，时隔十五年发行的首张巴赫作品专辑。

孙先生重拾巴赫作品源于他对音乐如何与社会建立联系的思考。周三，他在首尔龙山区Sounds S音乐厅与记者见面时表示：“在巴赫的赋格曲中，每一个声音都必须被听到，无论它多么轻柔或细腻。”

他说：“我选择巴赫是因为我开始思考，在一个我们被迫快速做出选择的时代，不同的声音如何才能和谐共存，而大多数人很容易追随一种突出的声音。”

对索恩而言，巴赫和贝多芬是帮助他“找到自己作为音乐家的身份和角色，并通过音乐与世界对话”的作曲家。巴赫的《平均律钢琴曲集》包含24个大小调的前奏曲和赋格曲，用他的话说，这部作品“通过24段旅程，捕捉了人类所能体验到的几乎所有复杂的问题、情感和感受”。

钢琴家孙敏洙周四在首尔举行的新闻发布会上发表讲话。图片由Mok Production提供。

他将每一块碎片比作夜空中的星星，说道：“每一颗星星本身都很重要，但当你凝视着同一个宇宙中的所有 24 颗星星时，也会感到仿佛踏上了一段漫长的旅程。”

孙表示，他对待所有音乐活动，包括这张新专辑，都“怀着对两位老师的敬意”，他指的是已故钢琴家拉塞尔·谢尔曼（1930-2023）和他的妻子卞京炳。谢尔曼去世后，卞京炳将带有谢尔曼手写注释和标记的乐谱交给了孙。研究这些乐谱成为了这张新专辑的创作基础。

他对巴赫的教诲也传授给了他的学生林。当林发行他自己录制的《哥德堡变奏曲》时，他回忆起孙的教诲：“巴赫是我们最伟大的先祖和源泉。”

孙说：“《平均律钢琴曲集》是音乐史上一个重要的起点，因为它探索了24个调中的每一个如何拥有其独特的个性。它为包括莫扎特、贝多芬、肖邦和舒曼在内的无数作曲家奠定了基础，使他们能够发现自己的音乐世界。”

孙自强3岁开始学习钢琴，2006年成为首位赢得加拿大霍恩斯国际钢琴比赛的韩国选手，并因此崭露头角，成为一颗冉冉升起的新星。然而，2008年，他因意外事故导致右手骨折。在康复期间，他大量练习左手，却也因此伤到了左手，一度无法演出。即使在2021年完成了雄心勃勃的贝多芬钢琴奏鸣曲全集演奏之后，他仍然饱受手部伤病的困扰。

经历了那些艰难岁月后，索恩逐渐找到了属于自己的音乐风格，成为古典音乐界一位颇具声望的钢琴家。在古典音乐界，人们的目光往往聚焦在年轻演奏家身上。“每位演奏家都有自己的角色，”他说，“我想思考如何在自己的领域里发挥所长，并通过音乐与听众交流。”

为庆祝新专辑发行，孙艺珍将在韩国及海外举办超过20场演出。巡演将于10月16日在申永室内乐厅拉开帷幕，随后在韩国进行10场演出，其中包括10月27日在首尔艺术中心音乐厅的演唱会。之后，他将继续前往台湾、新加坡和美国进行巡演。

“如果说录音是一次深入探索每一个音符的旅程，那么演出则是与观众分享那唯一且不可复制的瞬间可能发生的一切，”孙说。“我希望这些演出能让热爱巴赫音乐的人们有机会思考新的意义，并提出新的问题。”

本文来自《韩国日报》（《韩国时报》的姊妹报），由人工智能生成系统翻译，并由《韩国时报》编辑。