Hyung-ki Joo is British-Korean pianist, composer, and one half of the duo Igudesman & Joo. Billy Joel chose Joo to arrange and record his classical piano pieces for the album Fantasies & Delusions. It was recorded at the Mozart-Hall, Vienna Konzerthaus, and reached the No. 1 spot on the Billboard charts for eighteen weeks.
Born in England of South Korean parents, Hyung-ki Joo began his formal training in the UK at the Menuhin School with Peter Norris and Seta Tanyel and later earned his Bachelor and Master of Music degrees from Manhattan School of Music, where he studied with Nina Svetlanova. Other teachers include Richard Goode and Oleg Maisenberg.
As soloist, he has performed with conductors such as Sergiu Commissiona, Andrey Andreev, Rumon Gamba, Daniel Raiskin, and Yehudi Menuhin. In 2001, he founded a piano trio called DIMENSION, with Rafal Payne and Thomas Carroll.
He has also created and performed several shows which integrate comedy with classical music. His show, A Little Nightmare Music, co-created with Aleksey Igudesman, has been performed all over the world since its world premiere at the Vienna Musikverein.