BTS V learns piano from Cho Seong-jin: "Music doesn't start at the fingertips; it has already begun in the air" [K-EYES]

*This content was translated by AI.

V learns piano from Cho Seong-jin, winner of the 2015 Chopin International Piano Competition… A dream realized after seven years of admiration

BTS (BTS) member V (Kim Tae-hyung) publicly shared a video of himself taking piano lessons from world-renowned pianist Cho Seong-jin, the 2015 Chopin International Piano Competition winner, sending both the music industry and his fanbase into excitement. V had openly expressed admiration for the superstar pianist since 2019, and this marks the realization of a dream after approximately seven years.

On the 29th (local time), early in the morning, V shared a video on his official Instagram Story showing him seated before a grand piano playing the jazz standard "Misty." Cho Seong-jin performed Chopin's Ballade No. 4. The scene, captured by cameras filming each other playing the piano and reflected in a glass window, became a beautiful moment of friendship.

Notably, when V played, he demonstrated a motion of bringing his left arm from afar to place his fingers on the piano keys. This gesture, along with the video caption "It's already started…," directly quotes Cho Seong-jin's famous remark from an interview three years prior: "We don't start this; it's already started."

Cho Seong-jin begins by sitting at the piano first and performing his now-famous motion—slowly bringing his left hand from above the keys in mid-air—to launch into Chopin's Ballade No. 4. His statement conveys that music does not begin the moment a pianist's fingers touch the keys, but rather that the energy of music, already begun far away in the air, is drawn down (with the left hand) and placed onto the keys.

The two share a deep connection. In 2019, during a V Live broadcast, V stated he hoped to one day see Cho Seong-jin perform live after watching his performance videos. Last June, they were featured in news reports for attending Cho Seong-jin's "Lisa" concert at Seoul Arts Center together with director Park Chan-wook.

Photos from a military discharge celebration party also showed V alongside Cho Seong-jin and Peggy Gou, confirming their close friendship. In April this year, V explicitly mentioned during the closing remarks of his Goyang performance that he was "looking for a piano teacher." Thus, his dream came true in just about three months.

Cho Seong-jin is from Seoul and is recognized as one of the world's top pianists today, being the first Korean to win the 2015 Chopin International Piano Competition. Signed with Deutsche Grammophon, he has released seven studio albums and served as an Artist in Residence for the Berlin Philharmonic during the 2024–25 season.

Fans reacted explosively. @meiqi_kv wrote, "Taehyung playing the same piece repeatedly is so cute," while @Raya_for_BTS expressed surprise, asking, "Are you taking lessons from a world-class pianist?" @yourfavgemtaur commented, "This feels like a dream." French fans enthusiastically declared, "I've loved him for ten years." With V continuing to expand his musical horizons—having mastered vocals, guitar, and saxophone, and now adding piano—his relentless pursuit of learning once again captivates fans worldwide.

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*This content was translated by AI.