Pioneer of “Free Classic & Jazz”
YOUNEE from South Korea is a virtuoso, a composer, an award-winning pianist, and an excellent singer and songwriter who belongs to a small group of highly skilled classical musicians equally at home on jazz, pop and rock stages.
Before leaving her homeland, she had already achieved star status in South Korea. She wrote a number of hits for other pop and rock artists and now for German film projects, as well as hits for herself. In 2008, she moved to England and released her jazz/pop crossover album “True To You.”
In England she played with jazz greats like Richard Niles, Gary Husband, Nigel Hitchcock, Richard Cottle and Derek Watkins. In the UK she played at famous jazz venues, BBC “Woman’s hour”, Jazz Line-Up and several more. She was also appointed to the illustrious circle of pianists to play at the famous ‘Steinway Festival’. The album track “Home To You” reached several radio charts in the USA.
“Younee is a musical phenomenon. That can’t actually be true. But it is.” (Jazzthetik).
She then signed a contract with a German record label and moved to Germany.
Her first two German solo piano albums rose to #1 in German record sales in the classical, jazz and crossover album charts.
While Mozart, Beethoven, Rachmaninoff and other ‘classics’ were still her inspiration on her German debut album ‘Jugendstil’ (2014), YOUNEE ignited brilliant fireworks between furioso and pianissimo on the following album “My Piano” (2016) with breathtaking dexterity and eleven original compositions, taking the listener on a highly emotional journey into a new world of piano music. Until the last note everything happens intuitively, spontaneously and unexpectedly, without slipping into kitschy realms or into virtuosity for virtuosity’s sake. ‘That’s me, that’s me!’ says Younee, who now lives in Bavaria. The way Younee performs her music live for her audience is not only extremely charming, it’s like reinventing her music every time.
She has also performed on numerous stages, both at classical concerts and at jazz festivals and concert halls, such as the Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival, Kissinger Sommer, Beethoven Festival, Leverkusener Jazztage, Jazzopen Stuttgart, Dresden Jazztage, Görlitz Jazztage, Da Jazz Festival in St.Moritz, Woman in Jazz, Elbphilharmonie and many more.
Younee enchants a wide audience. Men as well as women, young and older people. What they have in common is that they like to listen to music. And that’s all it takes to simply love this artist. Younee is a classically trained Korean pianist, she plays – almost – everything and all that with her very own imprint. Classical, blues, jazz or poppy tunes and yes, every now and then she even sings and that with a voice that gets under your skin. She presents all this with a passionate charisma and a charm to kneel down.
Younee started playing the piano at the age of 5 and, as she later told in an interview, invented her own little melodies. She maintained and developed this ability during her later studies in Seoul. Today she is one of the few pianists in the world who masters the classical metier just as well as jazz and improvisation. On her current album, “My Piano,” the musician has further expanded this rich diversity. There, rousing stride piano sounds just as good as classical, blues, pop and jazz. Furious runs and fugue themes testify to the amazing power of her themes and songs. These all originate from her own pen and make it clear how superfluous the addiction to classification and delimitation is. With her precise playing, she confidently leaves stylistic boundaries to the left and turns music into a pure passion and joy for her audience.
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