Winner of the 1971 San Francisco Symphony Foundation Competition and the Merriweather Post Competition in Washington D.C.
He performed in his first concert when he was eight years old and went on to attend the Juilliard School in 1967.
He started teaching at Yonsei University, one of the oldest South Korean universities, in 2003.
He married and had two children.
He has worked with many famous conductors, including Seiji Ozawa.