Yiruma's piano music is expressive and introspective. He frequently performs at sold-out concerts in Asia, Europe and North America.

His Alma Mater King's College in England helped him gain European popularity and recognition. Several of his most popular pieces include, "River Flows in You", "Kiss the Rain", and "Maybe". His most popular album First Love was released in 2001. He began playing the piano at the age of five, and moved to London when he was 11, in 1988, to study at The Purcell School of Music. He possessed dual citizenship of South Korea and England until 2006, when he gave up his UK citizenship to serve in the Navy of South Korea.

Contents
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1 Career Timeline 2 Biography 3 Musical Style 4 Personal life o 4.1 Family and Spouse o 4.2 Religious Affiliation 5 Albums o 5.1 Studio Albums o 5.2 Special Albums o 5.3 Live Albums o 5.4 Movie Soundtracks 6 Compilations 7 References 8 External links

[edit] Career Timeline

It has been suggested that this article or section be merged into Yiruma#Biography. (Discuss) Proposed since May 2011. September 1990 July 1997 Attended THE PURCELL OF SPECIALIST MUSIC SCHOOL (LONDON) - PIANO AND COMPOSITION September 1997 June 2000 Attended KING"S COLLEGE OF LONDON UNIVERSITY Graduated as COMPOSITION MAJOR June 1992 YOUNG MUSICIAN'S FESTIVAL, In FAIRFIELD Hall- Croydon As a Soloist 1995 KODAI MUSIC SCHOOL CONCERT, HUNGARY- As a Soloist

December 1996 Album Production in London May 1997 GEORGE BENJAMIN WORK (PIANO DUET)- Participated in LONTANO ENSEMBLE WORKSHOP April 2000 Produced theater play TAE! For Korea England Cultural Friendship in London. May 2001 Released debut album December 2001 Released 2nd album "First Love , Concert at Young San Art Hall January 2002 Invited to perform at The 36th MIDEM (Cannes, France) April 2002 Concert at the Young San Art Hall June 2002 Release "Oasis & Yiruma" Image album July 2002 Promotion tour in Japan August 2002 Promotion tour in Taiwan December 2002 Release of soundtrack "Doggy Poo O.S.T" May 2003 Jeju Shilla Hotel Concert, Hoam Art Hall Concert, Herbnara Concert May 2003 Working to protect the environment with Body shop June - September 2003 Concert Tour in 13 cities August 2003 Free Concert at the Ghana Art Center for Orphans October 2003 Free Concert for seniors October 2003 Released 3rd album November 2003 Concert at Seoul Arts Center February 2004 Joint Concert with pianist Isao Sasaki at the Seoul Art Center Jan-Mar 2004 Concert Tour in 12 cities March 2004 Concert at Hoam Art Hall April 2004 Promotion Tour in Japan June 2004 Recording for 'FUJI TV drama' at Tokyo, Japan

November 2005 Release 4th album March 2006 Farewell Concerts at Seoul Arts Center & Sejong Center For the Performing Arts July 2006 Enlisted in Korean Navy August 2006 Released 5th album h.i.s. Monologue August 2008 General Discharge from the Korean Navy October 2008 Released 6th album P.N.O.N.I November 2008 ~ Jan 2009 "Yiruma's come back Tour" around 20 cities in Korea[1]

[edit] Biography
Lee ru-ma was born in South Korea and was raised and educated in England. Yiruma began playing the piano at the age of five, and subsequently moved to London at the age of eleven (1988), to study at The Purcell School of Music. In December 1996 he participated in the album The Musicians of Purcell (Decca). Graduating from Purcell School of Music in July 1997, Yiruma continued his musical aspirations and completed a Composition major from King's College London in June 2000. While studying at Kings College, this promising pianist released his first album "Love Scene" through DECCA records. Additionally, during his time in college, he participated in a musical tour in Europe. Making a historical impact for his country, Yiruma was the first Korean artist to receive an invitation to perform at the 2002 MIDEM in Cannes, France. Early in his career, his albums were released in Europe and Asia, they are now available internationally through various online sources such as iTunes, Amazon, and Yiruma's recording label STOMP Records. In 2001 he released his most popular album to date, "First Love". His #1 selling song "River Flows in You" was on this album and since 2001 this song has been released on two other albums (First Love [Repackaged] and Wedding Essentials: The Ceremony) Yiruma released his third album, From The Yellow Room in 2003. Pre-order sales topped 30,000 copies and the album was top-ranked on many popular music charts, including Yes24, Phono, and Hot Tracks. His 12-city Korean tour was a sellout, as well as his November concert at the Seoul National Arts Center. His fourth album is POEMUSIC. In 2006, the following year, he composed a main theme song for a popular KBS drama, Spring Waltz. In his fifth album, h.i.s monologue, he utilized prepared piano. Yiruma has composed soundtracks for musicals, films and plays. While being internationally successful in the world music industry, Yiruma dutifully decided to fulfill his South Korean patriotic duty of serving his country. Hence, in 2006 he gave up his United Kingdom citizenship and enlisted in the Republic of Korea Navy. After satisfying his national duty in the Korean Navy, he began the 2008 Yiruma Come Back Tour, Ribbonized, in 20 cities across Korea. Additionally, on January 1, 2009, he became a DJ for KBS1FM Yiruma's Music from All Around the World.[2]

[edit] Musical Style

Yiruma's musical style is easy to misclassify. Because his music is popular among many listeners who are not familiar with classical music, the solo piano instrumentation and tendency toward "movements" often leads to labels like "new classical" or "contemporary classical". However, although his composition studies would have included the classics, neither the structure of his songs nor his technique as a pianist are heavily influenced by them. His music has sometimes been classified vaguely as "popular", as shown by the inclusion of his hit song River Flows in You on a compilation of wedding songs titled "Wedding Essentials: The Ceremony"[3]. According to the iTunes Store, he is actually considered a World Music[4] or New Age artist. For the actual structure of his music, the movement and reach required to play his songs averages around Grade or 7 by Royal Conservatory standards. Pattern and repetition feature prominently, however, making the structure more like popular songs or movie themes than traditional solo piano compositions. Yiruma's songs are also heavy in simple melody and rhythm, making them immediately attractive to many modern ears.

[edit] Personal life

[edit] Family and Spouse
Yiruma married Son Hye-Im on May 27, 2007.[5] The song "27.May" is about his marriage to Son Hye-Im. Son Hye-Im's younger sister is the Korean actress Son Tae Young, who attended ) (a famous actor in Korea),[6] Yirumas concert with her husband, Kwon Sang-Woo( while she was pregnant. Yiruma and Son Hye-Im have a daughter, Loanna, whom the song "Loanna" was composed for and named after.

[edit] Religious Affiliation

Although New Age is not a religion, Yiruma has stated, Im Christian, and I am not a New-age artist".[1] Most people misunderstand me. In his album H.I.S Monologue (2006), the artist composed a song titled, Lord...Hold my Hand.[7]

[edit] Albums