Elaine Kwon: Bio

 
 

Prize-winning pianist Elaine Kwon made her orchestral debut with the Washington-Idaho Symphony at age 15 and has performed solo, concerto, and chamber music concerts throughout the US and internationally. She received standing ovations at her sold-out, 2008 Carnegie Hall debut concert in Weill Recital Hall as well as in her 2009/2010 season opening concerts as soloist with the Toronto Philharmonia Orchestra and the Finger Lakes Symphony. For 10 years she toured regularly as part of the Hebert/Kwon piano duo and has appeared on public television and radio in the US, China and Bulgaria. She was a Visiting Professor of Piano at the Conservatory of Music in Wuhan, People's Republic of China and performed duo piano concerts (with pianist Sandra Hebert) and taught master classes at the music conservatories in Wuhan, Chengdu and Tianjin.  As collaborative musician, she has performed/composed/choreographed productions of piano music combined with other art forms. Performances in New York include presentations at Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center Rose Studio, Angel Orensanz Theater, Tenri Cultural Institute, ICO Gallery, Yamaha Piano Salon and the Knitting Factory. As a composer, she has written primarily solo piano works.  She created an original score for the highly-acclaimed Shakespearean play, Corsetless, which premiered in Buffalo, NY, was showcased in Carnegie Hall and toured through Ireland in 2009.

Elaine received a Doctorate of Musical Arts with highest honors from Boston University; a Master of Music from New England Conservatory with highest honors and the Distinction in Performance Award; and a Bachelor of Music from University of Texas in Austin with highest honors and the Academic All-American award. Former teachers include Anthony di Bonaventura, Leonard Shure, Danielle Martin and Jerome Lowenthal.

As an avid martial artist, Elaine holds a second-degree black belt in Tae Kwon Do and is five-time US National Tae Kwon Do Champion in Traditional and Creative Forms (1994, 1997-2000). As a member of a National exhibition team, Elaine performed for US soldiers stationed in Korea in the USO Jhoon Rhee Show (formerly USO Bob Hope Show) in celebration of US Independence Day. She was named one of Boston's "Most Alluring Women" by Boston Magazine, Chanel, and Filene's, and appeared as one of "Ten Toughest Bostonians" in the Improper Bostonian Magazine. New York Moves Magazine honored her as a 2008 Power Woman: celebrating women of substance and influence. She has also been a featured guest on the Oprah Winfrey Show.

Elaine is represented exclusively by Wilhelmina Models of New York. She will appear in the Men's Health/Women's Health Exercise Book (due to be released in 2010). She was chosen to represent Nike in the 2003 Asia campaign as a kickboxer and has appeared in Vogue, Elle, InStyle, Runner's World, Women's Health and other magazines, numerous ads, health and fitness videos, corporate videos and several short films. She hosted the 2006 action/urban adventure/martial arts TV show: "The Lounge--Shaken 'n Stirred" on ImaginAsian TV. Presently she studies Shaolin Kung Fu at the USA Shaolin Temple in New York with Sifu Shi Yan Ming.

Elaine is an Affiliated Artist/Lecturer in the Music Department at MIT where she teaches music theory and piano lab. She is co-founder/director of the New York-based chamber group, Sapphire Ensemble, the Forecast New Music Ensemble and the Light and Sound Water Trio.  Elaine traveled around the world for a year and a half before making her home in New York City, where she continues to explore ways to combine and communicate her passion for music, martial arts, sports, travel, cooking and optimal living.