Hyunsoon Whang set to perform Beethoven’s most challenging piano sonata

In September 2019, after embarking on a personal goal to perform the entire cycle of Beethoven's 32 sonatas, Cameron University professor of music Dr. Hyunsoon Whang knew from the beginning that she would defer tackling one particular sonata - the monumental "Hammerklavier" Sonata, Op. 106 - until late in the series. After months of painstaking preparation, she is now ready to perform the work on Sunday, Oct. 12, at 3 p.m. in the McCutcheon Recital Hall.

"It was not an option for me to escape from tackling this beast since I had set myself to survey all 32 sonatas," Whang says. "Naturally, I was apprehensive about this work. I have been working on it on and off since the pandemic, but I am so thankful that I've learned it and excited to share this colossal work with the Cameron community, with a footnote that this only marks the beginning of my lifelong relationship with 'Hammerklavier' sonata."

Tickets purchased at the door are $10 for adults and $8 for senior citizens, members of the military and non-CU students. Cameron University students, faculty and staff receive one free admission with their CU I.D. Tickets can be reserved by calling the box office at 580-581-2346. Tickets can also be purchased in advance online at https://www.cameron.edu/art-music-and-theatre/events/buy-tickets. (Taxes and processing fees apply.)

"This is considered by many the most difficult piano sonata written by Beethoven, or, perhaps by any composer in history of music," Whang says. "The iconic work is much revered, disputed, loved and feared by pianists. With this work, Beethoven is completely ruthless, tasking pianists with technical proficiency, intellectual and emotional challenges and sheer stamina. Depending on the tempo the pianist chooses, it can take anywhere between 40 minutes to close to an hour."

The opus is set in the standard four movements.

"The first movement - Allegro - sounds almost festive and fanfare-like, interspersed with lyricism," Whang says. "The short scherzo which comes before the Adagio is rather jovial but not without a sense of uneasiness. The lengthy third (slow) movement's beauty and emotional depths are out of this world, in my opinion. The great German pianist Wilhelm Kempff described it perfectly as 'the most magnificent monologue Beethoven ever wrote.' The finale begins with an ethereal introduction which leads to one of the craziest, difficult, longest and wildest three-voice fugue. Yet between overwhelming outbursts and chaos, there are heart-wrenchingly beautiful sections."

A dedicated educator, Whang has taught generations of students. She has given masterclasses in several countries and regularly presents interactive recitals for rural public school children. She is a recipient of the Oklahoma Governor's Arts in Education Award and the 2025 Oklahoma Music Teachers Association's Distinguished Teacher Award.

She has performed in Europe, Canada, Australia, Asia and nearly all 50 states in America. She has collaborated with noted musicians including Alexis Weissenberg, Leonard Slatkin, Joel Revzen, Michael Tree, David Kim and Jon Kalbfleisch. Her second chamber music album "Brahms in Twilight" with lifelong friend and collaborator Daniel McKelway was released in December 2024.

Whang studied at the North Carolina School of the Arts, the St. Louis Conservatory, The Juilliard School with Joseph Kalichstein, and received a doctorate from Indiana University under the tutelage of the legendary pianist György Sebők. She serves as the McMahon Endowed Chair in Music at Cameron University. During summers she teaches at the Interlochen Arts Camp in Michigan. Besides teaching and playing the piano, she enjoys practicing yoga, following Major League Baseball, and being a supermom to her veterinarian daughter Courtney and Callie, a pitbull rescue.

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