Career
Born in the United States and raised in Europe, Esther began playing the violin at the age of 4 and made her concerto debut aged 8. She is currently a student of Ana Chumachenco in the Excellence Bachelor Programme at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater in Munich and of Augustin Dumay in the Artist Diploma Programme at the Queen Elisabeth Music Chapel in Brussels. Prior to this, she worked with Zakhar Bron, Leonid Kerbel and Berent Korfker.
Esther plays the 1704 “Prince Obolensky” Stradivarius, generously lent to her by a private collector.
In 2014, Esther Yoo made her London concerto debut with the Philharmonia Orchestra under the late Lorin Maazel, following their collaboration on a 2012 tour to China and of Korea. In 2015/16, Esther returns to the Philharmonia, British Broadcasting Corporation Philharmonic, British Broadcasting Corporation Scottish Symphony, Orchestre National de Lille and Kansai Philharmonic orchestras.
She debuts with Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, RTÉ Symphony, Iceland Symphony and Korean Broadcasting System Symphony orchestras. Esther also revisits South America, following a tour with the Philharmonia Orchestra and Vladimir Ashkenazy in September 2014, performing with Orquesta Sinfónica Nacional de Colombia and Filarmonica de Jalisco.
Chamber music highlights include her Wigmore Hall debut with regular collaborator Zhang Zuo, and recitals in Oslo, Liverpool and Istanbul.
In past seasons Esther has performed with the British Broadcasting Corporation Symphony Orchestra, Hallé, Philharmonie Südwestfalen, Bilkent Symphony Orchestra and Gävle Symphony Orchestra, while past highlights include performances with the Finnish Radio Symphony, Helsinki Philharmonic, Warsaw Philharmonic, Tenerife Symphony, Hong Kong Philharmonic and Seoul Philharmonic orchestras. Recent and upcoming festival appearances include the Ghent Festival of Flanders, Festival de Fénétrange, Seoul International Music Festival (featuring Bach’s Double Concerto with Maxim Vengerov), Festival du Château de Chambord and Dvořák Prague Festival.
