Kevin Kwan Loucks // Pianist
Pianist Kevin Kwan Loucks enjoys a multifaceted career as international concert artist, educator, and arts entrepreneur. He has been described as “impeccable” (La Presse, Montreal), “a shining talent” (Völser Zeitung, Italy), “a pianist of exhilarating polish, unity and engagement” (The Orange County Register, California), and in 2015, was named one of Orange County, California’s most influential people by OC Weekly. He has earned ovations from Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall, to Prösels Castle in Italy, the Kennedy Center, Kumho Art Hall in South Korea, Lincoln Center’s Alice Tully Hall, and Lichtenstein Palace in Prague, and has performed on National Public Radio, CBC Radio 2, Classical KUSC, the Public Broadcasting Service, KABC-TV Los Angeles, and the Korean Broadcasting System. He was a top prize winner at the Schlern International Competition in Italy, the International Chamber Music Ensemble Competition in Boston, the Beverly Hills Auditions in Los Angeles, and received the American Prize in Piano Performance in 2012.
As a collaborative artist, Kevin Kwan Loucks has appeared in recitals with Rachel Barton Pine, Denis Brott, Colin Carr, Paul Coletti, Robert deMaine, Eugene Drucker, Edgar Meyer, Philip Setzer, Lara St. John, Kyung Sun Lee, and Carol Wincenc. He has been featured in collaborations with the Afiara, Cecilia, and Jupiter String Quartets, and has performed and recorded as a member of Gruppo Montebello, an All‐Star Ensemble of acclaimed Banff Centre faculty and alumni based in Canada. Loucks has performed hundreds of recitals throughout North America, Europe, and Asia with his wife, violinist Iryna Krechkovsky, as part of the award-winning Krechkovsky/Loucks Duo. In 2012, the Duo launched Chamber Music | OC — one of the most dynamic classical music projects in the country dedicated to advancing the art of chamber music through performance, education, and community outreach. In that same year they formed Trio Céleste with cellist Ross Gasworth and are currently Ensemble-in-Residence at the Claire Trevor School of the Arts at the University of California, Irvine where they also direct the annual Summer Chamber Music Festival.
A Korean-American adoptee and graduate of The Juilliard School in New York City, Kevin Kwan Loucks was mentored by Julian Martin, Henk Guittart, David Finckel, Wu Han, and Nina Scolnik. He is an alumnus of programs at the Aspen Music Festival, Music@Menlo, and The Banff Centre, and holds a Doctor of Musical Arts degree from Stony Brook University where he served as Head of Piano for the Pre-College Division and Teaching Assistant for the Emerson String Quartet. He recently concluded a two-year position as Artistic Director of the International Arts Mentoring Program in South Korea, a program sponsored by the Education and Culture Association bringing music and arts education to underprivileged children throughout Asia. Loucks is an Executive Master of Business Administration candidate at the Argyros School of Business and Economics at Chapman University.
Learn more at kevinloucks.com.