Presented By: School of Music, Theatre & Dance (SMTD)
Yooncho Cho, soprano and Matthew Thompson, piano
Landscapes of the Heart: Korean Art Song Recital
Step into an intimate journey through the evocative world of Korean art song, where memories of home, love, longing, and hope come to life — revealing the inner landscapes of the human heart and the emotions that connect us all.
The Korean Performing Arts Initiative presents a guest recital featuring international concert, stage and recording vocalist Yooncho Cho, performing with SMTD professor Matthew Thompson.
ABOUT THE ARTISTS
YOONCHO CHO is internationally recognized for her luminous tone, refined expressivity, and remarkable artistic freedom – praised by Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau and Sächsische Zeitung. A prizewinner of several international competitions, including the Musica Sacra, Strauss, Rheinsberg, and Darclée Competitions, she served as a principal soloist at Theater Münster and has appeared in leading roles at major German opera houses, including Essen, Freiburg, and Wiesbaden. Her operatic repertoire includes roles such as Blonde (Die Entführung aus dem Serail) and Musetta (La Bohème).
As a concert artist, she has performed at the Berlin Philharmonie and in major venues across Europe, collaborating with distinguished conductors such as Wolfgang Sawallisch and Christian Thielemann. Her repertoire includes Bach’s Passions, Mozart’s Requiem, Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9, and Mahler’s Symphony No. 4. She has also been featured at major international festivals, including the Leipzig Bach Festival, and has performed with leading orchestras across Asia.
Deeply committed to Korean art song, she shares its beauty and emotional depth with audiences worldwide. She has introduced Korean art songs – including “Arirang” – to European audiences and regularly leads masterclasses in Korea on this repertoire.
Her recording of Handel’s Dixit Dominus, conducted by Winfried Toll, was released by Sony Classical. She has also appeared with the Seoul Metropolitan Opera and the Korea National Opera.
She studied at Seoul National University, earned her master’s degree from the Berlin University of the Arts, and completed the Konzertexamen with highest honors at the University of Music and Theatre Leipzig. She is currently Professor of Voice at Gongju National University of Education.
MATTHEW THOMPSON DMA (collaborative piano) joined the University of Michigan School of Music, Theatre & Dance faculty in 2011 and was recently described by a former student as “giving one of the most wholesome, nerdy, epic-but-modest unicorn professor experiences you’ll ever find at U-M.” As a collaborative pianist, Dr. Thompson has performed with operatic celebrities including Thomas Hampson, Golden Mask winner Vince Yi, and even musical theater gurus like Tony Award winner, Gavin Creel.
A lifelong gamer, Dr. Thompson’s interests in video game music have become a major component of his teaching and research. His upcoming book, The Video Game Piano Phenomenon: Press Ab to Play will release in Spring 2027 as part of Intellect Publishing’s Studies in Game Sound and Music book series.
In 2022, Thompson published a database of Korean Art Song, koreanartsongresource.com, currently containing thousands of song entries. The same year, he organized and performed “K-ArtSong: a Korean Art Song Recital,” excerpts of which went viral in Korean news media accumulating more than 10 million views. In 2024, Thompson traveled to Korea and performed with U-M student, Jack Morin, on a Korean reality show, KoreaInvitesU.
Thompson received masters and doctoral degrees from the University of Michigan in collaborative piano, studying with his long time mentor, Martin Katz.
The Korean Performing Arts Initiative presents a guest recital featuring international concert, stage and recording vocalist Yooncho Cho, performing with SMTD professor Matthew Thompson.
ABOUT THE ARTISTS
YOONCHO CHO is internationally recognized for her luminous tone, refined expressivity, and remarkable artistic freedom – praised by Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau and Sächsische Zeitung. A prizewinner of several international competitions, including the Musica Sacra, Strauss, Rheinsberg, and Darclée Competitions, she served as a principal soloist at Theater Münster and has appeared in leading roles at major German opera houses, including Essen, Freiburg, and Wiesbaden. Her operatic repertoire includes roles such as Blonde (Die Entführung aus dem Serail) and Musetta (La Bohème).
As a concert artist, she has performed at the Berlin Philharmonie and in major venues across Europe, collaborating with distinguished conductors such as Wolfgang Sawallisch and Christian Thielemann. Her repertoire includes Bach’s Passions, Mozart’s Requiem, Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9, and Mahler’s Symphony No. 4. She has also been featured at major international festivals, including the Leipzig Bach Festival, and has performed with leading orchestras across Asia.
Deeply committed to Korean art song, she shares its beauty and emotional depth with audiences worldwide. She has introduced Korean art songs – including “Arirang” – to European audiences and regularly leads masterclasses in Korea on this repertoire.
Her recording of Handel’s Dixit Dominus, conducted by Winfried Toll, was released by Sony Classical. She has also appeared with the Seoul Metropolitan Opera and the Korea National Opera.
She studied at Seoul National University, earned her master’s degree from the Berlin University of the Arts, and completed the Konzertexamen with highest honors at the University of Music and Theatre Leipzig. She is currently Professor of Voice at Gongju National University of Education.
MATTHEW THOMPSON DMA (collaborative piano) joined the University of Michigan School of Music, Theatre & Dance faculty in 2011 and was recently described by a former student as “giving one of the most wholesome, nerdy, epic-but-modest unicorn professor experiences you’ll ever find at U-M.” As a collaborative pianist, Dr. Thompson has performed with operatic celebrities including Thomas Hampson, Golden Mask winner Vince Yi, and even musical theater gurus like Tony Award winner, Gavin Creel.
A lifelong gamer, Dr. Thompson’s interests in video game music have become a major component of his teaching and research. His upcoming book, The Video Game Piano Phenomenon: Press Ab to Play will release in Spring 2027 as part of Intellect Publishing’s Studies in Game Sound and Music book series.
In 2022, Thompson published a database of Korean Art Song, koreanartsongresource.com, currently containing thousands of song entries. The same year, he organized and performed “K-ArtSong: a Korean Art Song Recital,” excerpts of which went viral in Korean news media accumulating more than 10 million views. In 2024, Thompson traveled to Korea and performed with U-M student, Jack Morin, on a Korean reality show, KoreaInvitesU.
Thompson received masters and doctoral degrees from the University of Michigan in collaborative piano, studying with his long time mentor, Martin Katz.
Cost
- Free - no tickets required
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