Hanbin Koo, age 14, resides in Stedman, NC, and attends Cape Fear High School as a 9th grader. She started playing the flute by joining the school band when she was 12 years old. In February 8, 2014, an article called “Young and Talented” featured Ms. Koo in the Fayetteville Observer. A few weeks later Hanbin was invited to perform and interview live on the WNCN My Carolina Today TV show on NBC 17 and shortly after was a national finalist in Chicago for the MTNA.
In May 2014, she won 2nd place in the Tar River Symphony Orchestra Young Artist Concerto Competition and was the overall winner of the 2014 Kiwanis Talent Showcase. Additionally, Hanbin was invited to perform at the 2014 Annual Celebration Event Conducted by the Partnership For Children Association. She studies with Ms. Sunyoung Kim and Dr. Christine Gustafson who is the professor at the University of East Carolina.
Hanbin also started playing the piano with her mother at age 8 and in 2012 Hanbin was awarded the 1st prize at the Fayetteville Kiwanis Club competition. In 2013, she was invited to play as a soloist and perform with 2 trios at the Fayetteville Chamber Music and Piano Festival, where she won 1st place. She won the superior rating for the NCMTA Piano Competition and was a finalist for the Fayetteville Symphony Orchestra Young Artist Concerto Competition for piano. She is studying piano with an internationally known pianist Mr. Jesse Davis.