Pianist Im Eun-hyuk Returns to Stage After Cancer Battle, Challenges Musical Conventions
Creatrip Team
a month ago
Pianist Im Eun-hyuk holds a solo recital titled "To Where Light Does Not Reach" on the 21st at Papyrus, a cultural space in Chuncheon where he donated his 30-year-old upright piano (up-right piano) in 2024. Im’s ties to Chuncheon began during his university years and a long friendship with critic Kim Jin-muk. The recital, themed on the summer solstice, strings together works by Oscar Peterson, Gershwin, Alban Berg, Tchaikovsky and Grieg, deliberately alternating comfortable and challenging pieces. A non-music-major turned professional, Im recovered from lymph node cancer after two surgeries and months bedridden; music became his anchor. He later won first prize at the Warsaw K. Novat International Concerto Competition and drew audiences through word of mouth. Known for forceful playing that breaks musical inertia, he views music as a way to enter others’ worlds and insists classical concerts should be accessible — tickets are priced at 30,000 won. (Papyrus: the venue where he donated his longtime piano)
