Minkyung Chu is an emerging soloist and chamber musician currently based in Los Angeles, where she is pursuing an Artist Diploma at the Colburn Conservatory under the mentorship of Yehuda Gilad. Recognized for her expressive artistry and technical brilliance, Minkyung has garnered international attention through a wide range of solo and ensemble performances.

 

At just 15, she was admitted to Korea National University of Arts as a gifted student and studied under Professor Jerry Jaeil Chae. She graduated at 19 as the top clarinetist in her class and one of the top three graduates in the entire music department. While still a student, she made early marks in the international music scene, earning third prize at the 2015 International Clarinet Association Competition in Madrid and first prize in the wind division of the Osaka International Competition.

 

Minkyung’s solo career includes performances with distinguished ensembles and orchestras such as the Suwon Philharmonic, Sungnam Philharmonic, Korea National University of Arts Symphony Orchestra, KNUA Clarinet Choir, Lucerne Festival, and the Zemlinsky Quartet. She has given solo recitals at the Kumho Arts Hall’s Prodigy Concert (2015) and Young Artist Concert (2018), and has been featured in numerous high-profile competitions. At 17, she was the youngest participant in the 2018 Geneva International Music Competition, and the following year, again the youngest competitor at the ARD Music Competition in Munich.

 

Her studies continued in Switzerland after being invited by Romain Guyot to pursue a Master’s degree at the Haute École de Musique de Genève. In 2022, she advanced to the semifinals of the Ghent International Clarinet Competition, where her performance of the Brahms Clarinet Quintet with the Zemlinsky Quartet was selected as the competition’s best recording and released on Spotify and Apple Music.

 

In recent years, Minkyung has been a semifinalist at the prestigious Young Concert Artists Auditions (2022, 2023), and performed as a soloist with the Lucerne Festival Orchestra in June 2023. She was named a Laureate of the Belgian Clarinet Patrimony in December 2023 and subsequently invited to perform at the European Clarinet Congress in Tilburg, Netherlands. She also premiered a contemporary work by Belgian composer Wilfried Westerlinck with the Zemlinsky Quartet in Ghent—a performance that led to a personal invitation from the composer to premiere his solo clarinet piece the following year.

 

At Colburn, Minkyung was nominated by the full faculty to perform as a soloist with the Colburn Orchestra under conductor Nicholas McGegan. She was also selected to represent the school in performances at the Tianjin Juilliard Orchestral Symposium in Tianjin and Beijing, China.

 

Deeply committed to contemporary music and creative collaborations, Minkyung Chu continues to develop a solo career that reflects her passion for innovation and excellence in performance.