 MINSOO SOHN: A JOURNEY WITH BACH ACCLAIMED KOREAN-AMERICAN PIANIST SIGNS TO HYPERION WITH RECORDING OF BOOK 1 OF BACH’S WELL-TEMPERED CLAVIER Album release: 2 October 2026  “Bach’s music encourages us to slow down, listen more carefully and reconnect with something deeper.” Minsoo Sohn Listen to Bach: Prelude No 12 in F minor, BWV857HERE Hyperion is pleased to announce the signing of South Korean-American pianist Minsoo Sohn. His debut recording for the label, Bach’s The Well Tempered Clavier, Book I, will come out on 2 October. The signing marks the beginning of a long-term artistic partnership with Hyperion and the first part of a planned complete recording of Bach’s monumental cycle. For over two decades, Minsoo has built an international reputation as one of the most distinctive musical voices of his generation. After winning the 2006 Honens International Piano Competition, he has performed across Europe, North America, and Asia. He has received particular praise for his interpretations of Bach and Beethoven. His recording of Bach’s Goldberg Variations was named one of The New York Times’ Best Classical Recordings of 2011. His complete cycle of Beethoven’s 32 Piano Sonatas, released in 2020, established his standing for performances with exceptional depth and musical honesty. However, for Minsoo, this new recording represents more than just a milestone. It raises an important question for the pianist: why does Bach still matter today? “We live in an increasingly noisy and distracted world,” he notes. “Bach’s music encourages us to slow down, listen more carefully and reconnect with something deeper. It reminds us of reflection, humanity and balance.” This idea is central to his interpretation of The Well Tempered Clavier. Rather than viewing it as an historical work or technical challenge, Minsoo treats Bach’s music as contemporary and immediate. In his view, every voice counts, and every line adds to a larger whole. The recording is also a personal tribute. It is dedicated to his teacher, the legendary American pianist Russell Sherman, who considered The Well Tempered Clavier one of the highest expressions of the human spirit but never recorded it himself. After Sherman’s passing, Minsoo received his annotated scores from his wife and former teacher, fellow pianist Wha Kyung Byun. Studying those scores became the foundation for this recording journey. Alongside his performing career, Minsoo has gained respect as one of today’s top piano teachers. He has taught at the New England Conservatory, Michigan State University, and Korea National University of Arts. He has guided a generation of talented musicians, including Yunchan Lim, and has served on the juries of major international piano competitions. His artistic path has also shown resilience. A serious wrist injury in 2008 interrupted his career for years and forced him to rebuild his technique from the ground up. This experience changed his relationship with the piano, leading to a more natural physical approach and a deeper musical understanding that influences every performance today. Rather than defining his career, it became one part of a lifelong artistic development. Dominic Fyfe, A&R Director of Hyperion Records and Decca Classics writes: “With this much-anticipated recording we welcome Minsoo to the Hyperion roster for the first in a series of recordings of pillars of the piano repertoire. His Bach is the culmination of a personal and artistic journey reaching back decades to his studies with Russell Sherman and, more recently, to a period of reflection due to physical injury. The result is an interpretation of rare depth and joy, recorded in the magical setting of Schloss Elmau in the Bavarian Alps and produced by Hans Kipfer”.This first Hyperion album is timed to coincide with a major international recital tour, with Minsoo performing Book I of Bach’s The Well-Tempered Clavier in Canada, Taiwan, Singapore, South Korea and the United States, including a recital at Carnegie Hall in New York.  Tour dates 27 September to 6 October – Canada recital tour (opening in Vancouver) 12 October – National Concert Hall, Taipei Event details 14 October – Victoria Concert Hall, Singapore Event details 16 to 27 October – South Korea recital tour, including Seoul Arts Center Seoul Arts Center recital 11 to 22 November – US East Coast tour, including Carnegie Hall, New York Carnegie Hall recital ABOUT MINSOO SOHNDescribed by The New York Times as ‘a genuine artist, with a thoughtfully conceived and poetic interpretation’, Minsoo Sohn is a Korean-American pianist known for his musical intelligence and masterful virtuosity.Sohn has toured extensively throughout North and South America, Europe, and Korea. As a soloist, he has performed alongside leading orchestras including The Cleveland Orchestra, Boston Symphony, Richmond Symphony, Calgary Philharmonic, Tokyo Philharmonic, Israel Philharmonic, Orchestre Symphonique de Québec, Jerusalem Camerata, Holland Symfonia, National Orchestra of Belgium, Cleveland Chamber Orchestra, Korean National Orchestra, and KBS Symphony, among others; collaborating with conductors such as Yannick Nézet-Séguin, Pietari Inkinen, Wilson Ng, Joel Levi, Jane Glover, Domingo Hindoyan, and Sasha Goetzel.Recent highlights include a duo tour with fellow pianist Yunchan Lim across Korea and at the Verbier, Gstaad Menuhin, and La Roque d’Antheron festivals in Europe; and a series of recitals playing Beethoven’s sonatas. The 2025/26 season also saw Sohn perform on tour alongside the Slovenian Philharmonic Orchestra, Wiener Symphoniker, and the Academy of St Martin in the Fields. In the 2026/27 season, Sohn will focus on recital appearances across Europe, North America and Asia, performing Bach’s Well-tempered Clavier, and including major stages such as Carnegie Hall.Sohn owes much of his success to his mentors, Russell Sherman and Wha Kyung Byun, with whom he studied at the New England Conservatory in Boston. After teaching at Michigan State University, Sohn returned to Korea as a much sought-after performer and teacher, and he joined the faculty of the Korean National University of Arts. He has also adjudicated on the jury of prominent international piano competitions, including the Honens, Montreal, and Busoni Competitions. In 2023, Sohn joined the piano faculty at New England Conservatory. |
