Derek Han was born in 1957 in the United States of Chinese parents. He began his piano studies at the age of seven and gave his first recital one year later. His orchestral debut came at the age of ten, performing Beethoven concerto No.2 with the Columbus Symphony Orchestra.
In 1968 he entered the Juilliard School in New York as a scholarship student of llona Kabos with whom he studied until her death in 1973. he then continued his studies with Gina Bachuer, Lili Kraus and with Guido Agosti at the Academia Chigiana in Siena, Italy where he was awarded a Diploma d’ Onore in 1975. At the age of eighteen he gradated from the Julliard School with a Bachelor of Music Degree. One of the youngest students ever to do so.
In 1977 Derek Han won First Prize and the Gold Medal at the Athens International Piano Competition. He was immediately engaged by Greek television for recitals and performances with the Sofia Radio Orchestra. He has since appeared through Europe and the United States in recital and as soloist with leading orchestras. He has been invited to major European music festivals in Berlin, Frankfurt, Stresa, Flanders, Dubrovnik, Ljubljana and Naples. He has also been invited several times by Rudolf Serkin to the Marbolo Festival.
From 1988 to 1990 Mr.Han was Artistic Director of the Zagreb Philharmonic. He is currently Artistic Advisor to the Moscow State Symphony Orchestra.
In November 1990 Derek Han performed the world premiere of the Andrei Petrov Piano Concerto in Leningrad and will open the 1991 Leningrad Spring Festival as soloist with the Leningrad Philharmonic Orchestra. Mr.Han’s recording of Shostakovich Piano Concerto No.1 with the Chicago Sinfonietta has just been released by Pro Arte Records. In addition, he will record the complete Mozart Piano Concerto with the Philharmonic Orchestra in London for Fanfare-Mastersound Records beginning in April 1991.
