Yiruma is the stage name of Lee Ru-ma (born February 15, 1978), a popular internationally known pianist and composer from South Korea. The name "Yiruma" means "I shall achieve" in Korean.

Yiruma 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. His most popular pieces include, "River Flows in You", "Kiss the Rain", and "May Be". 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 eleven, in 1988, to study at The Purcell School of Music. He possessed dual citizenship of South Korea and the United Kingdom until 2006, when he gave up his UK citizenship to serve in the Navy of South Korea.

Biography [link]

Lee Ru-ma was born and raised in South Korea, 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 piece "River Flows in You" was on this album and since 2001 this piece 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 piece 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 successful in the music industry, Yiruma decided to serve in the South Korean military. Hence, in 2006 he gave up his British citizenship and enlisted in the Korean Navy. Upon completing his service 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.^[1]

Musical style [link]

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 pieces 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 piece River Flows in You on a compilation of wedding pieces titled "Wedding Essentials: The Ceremony".^[2] According to the iTunes Store, he is actually considered a World Music^[3] or New Age artist.

For the actual structure of his music, the movement and reach required to play his pieces averages around Grade 7 by Royal Conservatory standards. Pattern and repetition feature prominently, however, making the structure more like popular pieces or movie themes than traditional solo piano compositions. Yiruma's pieces are also heavy in simple melody and rhythm, making them immediately attractive to many modern ears.

Personal life [link]

Family and spouse [link]

Yiruma married Son Hye-Im on May 27, 2007.^[4] The piece "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 Yiruma’s concert with her husband, Kwon Sang-Woo (权相佑) (a famous actor in Korea),^[5] while she was pregnant. Their daughter, Loanna, was born on Oct 7, 2007. ^[6]

On his spiritual viewpoint, Yiruma has stated, “I’m a Christian, and I am not a New-age artist. Most people misunderstand me.” In his album H.I.S Monologue (2006), the artist composed a piece titled, “Lord...Hold my Hand”.^[7]

Albums [link]

Studio albums [link]

This section is written like a personal reflection or essay rather than an encyclopedic description of the subject. Please help improve it by rewriting it in an encyclopedic style. (May 2011)

• 2001 Love Scene

• 2001 First Love

• 2003 From The Yellow Room

• 2004 Nocturnal Lights... They Scatter

• 2005 Destiny of Love

• 2005 Poemusic

• 2006 H.I.S. Monologue

• 2008 P.N.O.N.I

• 2009 Missing You

• 2012 Stay in Memory

Special albums [link]

• 2004 Nocturnal Lights...They Scatter

This album was released on August 5, 2004 and is an exploratory album for the artist. Differentiating itself from Yiruma's previous albums, Yiruma experiments with electronic music of various genres. The name expresses his concept for the overall feeling of this album. The image of scattering lights in the night sky is reflected in his use of electronic noises to accompany his piano tinklings. Those who classify Yiruma in a certain genre were surprised by this album, he is not simply a New Age Romantic pianist. On this album, four of the pieces are composed with electric music and four are piano. These concepts had been previously introduced yet Yiruma fully expresses his desire to experiment in this album. Consistently throughout the album, the electronic vibe is present, hence the pieces flow together pleasantly.

Live albums [link]

• 2005 Yiruma: Live at HOAM Art Hall

Released on July 12, 2005, this album includes the recordings for many of his sold out concerts performed at HOAM Art Hall. Yiruma's many fans include his enthusiastic female followers, young students and their parents, and older fans who find his music soothing and inspirational. His melodies on this album are comforting and different from his studio recordings. While performing live, this artist has a gift of molding his music together into a pleasing arrangement. Audiences receive a welcome break from hectic daily lives by relaxing to Yiruma's calming pieces. This album contains Yiruma's performances during 2003-2004 tours, his sold out solo concerts, and charitable school concerts. Yiruma performed pieces from his albums:'Love Scene', 'First Love', 'From the Yellow Room', 'Oasis & Yiruma', and 'Doggy Poo OST'. These live performances were recorded by KBS using HD cameras and maintaining the highest quality to ensure fans can actually see Yiruma's facial expressions and witness his lightning fast fingers dance on the piano.

Movie soundtracks [link]

• 2002 Oasis and Yiruma

In his 3rd album released on June 20, 2002, Yiruma composes a soundtrack for the movie Oasis directed by Lee Chang-dong. In this album, the audience is invited to feel the emotions of the actors while watching a visual expression of their love.

Yiruma's second soundtrack for the Children's film Doggy Poo OST was released on December 17, 2002. By far the most popular track on this album is “Dream”.

Compilations [link]

• Piano Museum
• 2010 Ribbonized (10th Anniversary 6-CD BoxSet)

References [link]