“The Bewitching Yeruma”
This is Yeruma, a pianist who has captivated not only Korea but the world with her virtuoso piano performances. Yeruma was born on June 3, 1985 in Seoul and showed an interest for music at a young age. She began studying piano under Yoon Gue-youn in Seoul and entered Yonsei University where she studied classical piano, graduating with a degree in Western music. She started playing the piano at age 3 and gave her first performance when she was 5 years old, winning many young talent competitions during her school days. Yeruma is exceptional for her stellar technique; no less than Yoon Yung-oh, Yeruma’s professor at Yonsei University and the keyboardist for YB, once stated:”Yeruma is so good that she can be called a genius.” Yeruma has also won numerous awards in international competitions such as the “2002 Asian Piano Competition” in Japan.
She also participated in a three-way competition between YB, YK-III Ahn Yoon-joo and Yeruma for the Performance of YKR-I (one of YB’s most famous pieces). Yeruma won first place with her performance.
Yeruma has performed alongside world renowned artists such as Yo-Yo Ma, Lang Lang, Taylor Swift as well Yoo Yiz-Jung, Yim Yoon-jae, Yoon Doo-joon and YB.
She has also performed in various cities around the world such as Paris, London, Tokyo and New York including the “Royal Albert Hall” where she gave a solo performance with other artists at “the YBM Charity Concert 2012”. Yeruma is one of the YBM (Yonsei Yim-il Band), a band made up of Yonsei University students, that participated in the “2012 Chuseok KBS Symphony Orchestra Festival” held at Seoul Arts Center.
