Yunchan Lim
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Yunchan Lim (; born March 20, 2004) is a
South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the southern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders North Korea along the Korean Demilitarized Zone, with the Yellow Sea to the west and t ...
n
pianist A pianist ( , ) is a musician who plays the piano. A pianist's repertoire may include music from a diverse variety of styles, such as traditional classical music, jazz piano, jazz, blues piano, blues, and popular music, including rock music, ...
. In 2022, he gained widespread recognition when he became the youngest person ever to win the
Van Cliburn International Piano Competition The Van Cliburn International Piano Competition (The Cliburn) is an American piano competition by The Cliburn, first held in 1962 in Fort Worth, Texas and hosted by the Van Cliburn Foundation. Initially held at Texas Christian University, the ...
at 18 years old. In 2023, he signed an exclusive contract with
Decca Decca may refer to: Music * Decca Records or Decca Music Group, record label * Decca Gold, classical music record label owned by Universal Music Group * Decca Broadway, musical theater record label * Decca Studios, recording facility in West ...
. His first album on the label, '' Chopin:
Études Études (French for "studies") or Étude may refer to: Compositions * Étude, a type of instrumental musical composition designed to provide practice material * ''Études'' (Chopin), by Frédéric Chopin, 1829–1839 * ''Études'' (Debussy), by ...
,'' won the Piano Award at the 2024 Gramophone Classical Music Awards.


Early life and education

Lim was born in
Siheung Siheung (; ) is a Administrative divisions of South Korea, city in Gyeonggi Province, South Korea. The city has a population of 511,807 people, where 508,646 are residents out of 218,846 households as of August 2021. Siheung acquired its cu ...
, Gyeonggi Province, in South Korea. He started piano lessons at age seven and entered the Music Academy of
Seoul Arts Center The Seoul Arts Center (SAC; ) is an arts complex in Seocho District, Seoul, South Korea. It consists of five main buildings: the Opera House, with three auditoriums; the Music Hall, with two concert halls; the Hangaram Art Museum; the Hangaram D ...
a year later. He began to take the piano more seriously at age nine and studied piano with Kay Kyung Eun Kim. At 13, he entered Yewon School and graduated ''
summa cum laude Latin honors are a system of Latin phrases used in some colleges and universities to indicate the level of distinction with which an academic degree has been earned. The system is primarily used in the United States. It is also used in some Sout ...
'' in February 2020. He was also accepted into
Korea National University of Arts Korea National University of Arts () is a national university in Seoul, South Korea. Korea National University of Arts was established in 1993 by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism as the only national university of arts with an aim to ...
, where he studied with pianist Minsoo Sohn. After winning the 2022 Van Cliburn competition, Lim transferred to the
New England Conservatory of Music The New England Conservatory of Music (NEC) is a Private college, private music school in Boston, Massachusetts. The conservatory is located on Huntington Avenue along Avenue of the Arts (Boston), the Avenue of the Arts near Boston Symphony Ha ...
in
Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...
in September 2023, where his piano teacher Minsoo Sohn newly joined the faculty.


Career


2018–2022: Early career

In 2018, Lim received both the Second Prize and Chopin Prize at the Cleveland International Piano Competition for Young Artists, where he performed with the
Cleveland Orchestra The Cleveland Orchestra is an American orchestra based in Cleveland, Ohio. Founded in 1918 by the pianist and impresario Adella Prentiss Hughes, the orchestra is one of the five American orchestras informally referred to as the " Big Five". T ...
in the final round. In the same year, he was the youngest participant in the Thomas & Evon Cooper International Competition at the Oberlin College and Conservatory, where he won the Third Prize and the Audience Prize. In 2019, he became the youngest ever winner of the
Isang Yun Competition The ISANGYUN Competition is an international music competition, held annually in Tongyeong, South Korea. It commemorates Isang Yun (1917–1995), a Korean composer who was born in Tongyeong and later settled in Germany. The competition was est ...
at fifteen years old. In 2020, Lim was featured in the recording of the "2020 Young Musicians of Korea" album, which was organized by the
Korean Broadcasting System The Korean Broadcasting System (KBS; ) is the public broadcasting, national broadcaster of South Korea. Founded in 1927, it is one of the leading South Korean television and radio broadcasters under the government of South Korea. The KBS ope ...
and released in the same year.


2022–present: Van Cliburn Competition victory and present career

In June 2022, Lim won the Gold Medal at the 16th Van Cliburn International Piano Competition in
Fort Worth, Texas Fort Worth is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the county seat of Tarrant County, Texas, Tarrant County, covering nearly into Denton County, Texas, Denton, Johnson County, Texas, Johnson, Parker County, Texas, Parker, and Wise County, Te ...
, making him the youngest winner in the competition's history. The prize came with $100,000
USD The United States dollar (symbol: $; currency code: USD) is the official currency of the United States and several other countries. The Coinage Act of 1792 introduced the U.S. dollar at par with the Spanish silver dollar, divided it int ...
and career management for three years. He also won two special prizes, the Audience Award and the Best Performance of a New Work. His final round performance of
Rachmaninoff Sergei Vasilyevich Rachmaninoff; in Russian pre-revolutionary script. (28 March 1943) was a Russian composer, virtuoso pianist, and conductor. Rachmaninoff is widely considered one of the finest pianists of his day and, as a composer, one of ...
's Piano Concerto No. 3 is currently the most viewed video of the piece on
YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...
. It peaked at #24 on YouTube's global trending list and accumulated more than 10 million views in a span of eight months. Following his win at the Van Cliburn competition, Lim very soon collaborated with orchestras such as the
New York Philharmonic The New York Philharmonic is an American symphony orchestra based in New York City. Known officially as the ''Philharmonic-Symphony Society of New York, Inc.'', and globally known as the ''New York Philharmonic Orchestra'' (NYPO) or the ''New Yo ...
,
Chicago Symphony Orchestra The Chicago Symphony Orchestra (CSO) is an American symphony orchestra based in Chicago, Illinois. Founded by Theodore Thomas in 1891, the ensemble has been based in the Symphony Center since 1904 and plays a summer season at the Ravinia F ...
,
London Symphony Orchestra The London Symphony Orchestra (LSO) is a British symphony orchestra based in London. Founded in 1904, the LSO is the oldest of London's orchestras, symphony orchestras. The LSO was created by a group of players who left Henry Wood's Queen's ...
,
Los Angeles Philharmonic The Los Angeles Philharmonic (LA Phil) is an American orchestra based in Los Angeles, California. The orchestra holds a regular concert season from October until June at the Walt Disney Concert Hall and a summer season at the Hollywood Bowl from ...
,
Cleveland Orchestra The Cleveland Orchestra is an American orchestra based in Cleveland, Ohio. Founded in 1918 by the pianist and impresario Adella Prentiss Hughes, the orchestra is one of the five American orchestras informally referred to as the " Big Five". T ...
,
Boston Symphony Orchestra The Boston Symphony Orchestra (BSO) is an American orchestra based in Boston. It is the second-oldest of the five major American symphony orchestras commonly referred to as the "Big Five (orchestras), Big Five". Founded by Henry Lee Higginson in ...
,
Orchestre de Paris The Orchestre de Paris () is a French orchestra based in Paris. The orchestra currently performs most of its concerts at the Philharmonie de Paris. History In 1967, following the dissolution of the Orchestre de la Société des Concerts du ...
,
Munich Philharmonic The Munich Philharmonic () is a German symphony orchestra located in the city of Munich. It is one of Munich's four principal orchestras, along with the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Munich Radio Orchestra and the Bavarian State Orche ...
,
Lucerne Symphony Orchestra The Lucerne Symphony Orchestra () is a Swiss orchestra based in Lucerne. The Luzerner SInfonieorchester is the orchestra-in-residence of the renowned Lucerne Culture and Congress Centre (KKL Luzern). It also acts as the opera orchestra of the Lu ...
,
Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra The is recognized as the oldest symphony orchestra in Japan. It was founded in 1911 and debuted at the original Matsuzakaya store in Nagoya as the . It relocated to Tokyo in 1938. As of 2024, it has 166 members. The orchestra plays frequently a ...
, Orchestra of the Music Makers and the
KBS Symphony Orchestra The KBS Symphony Orchestra (KBS 교향악단) is a symphony orchestra based in South Korea. The orchestra principally performs in the KBS Hall and the concert hall of the Seoul Arts Center. History The orchestra was founded in 1956 as the ra ...
. He participated with Sir Antonio Pappano at the 2024
Verbier Festival The Verbier Festival is a two week annual international music festival which is held in late July and early August in the mountain resort of Verbier southeast of Lausanne, Switzerland. Begun by Swedish expatriate in 1994, it has attracted int ...
performing the Beethoven
Emperor Concerto The Piano Concerto No. 5 in E-flat major, Op. 73, known as the Emperor Concerto in English-speaking countries, is a piano concerto composed by Ludwig van Beethoven. Beethoven composed the concerto in 1809 under salary in Vienna, and he dedicated ...
with the international youth orchestra. He later performed the Emperor Concerto with the Los Angeles Philharmonic with
Gustavo Dudamel Gustavo Adolfo Dudamel Ramírez (born 26 January 1981) is a Venezuelan conductor. He is currently the music director of the Simón Bolívar Symphony Orchestra and the Los Angeles Philharmonic. He is scheduled to become the Music and Artistic ...
conducting and also with the
Cleveland Orchestra The Cleveland Orchestra is an American orchestra based in Cleveland, Ohio. Founded in 1918 by the pianist and impresario Adella Prentiss Hughes, the orchestra is one of the five American orchestras informally referred to as the " Big Five". T ...
. Lim has performed at
Carnegie Hall Carnegie Hall ( ) is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. It is at 881 Seventh Avenue (Manhattan), Seventh Avenue, occupying the east side of Seventh Avenue between 56th Street (Manhattan), 56th and 57th Street (Manhattan), 57t ...
, the
Hollywood Bowl The Hollywood Bowl is an amphitheatre and Urban park, public park in the Hollywood Hills of Los Angeles, California. It was named one of the 10 best live music venues in the United States by ''Rolling Stone'' magazine in 2018 and was listed on ...
,
Royal Albert Hall The Royal Albert Hall is a concert hall on the northern edge of South Kensington, London, England. It has a seating capacity of 5,272. Since the hall's opening by Queen Victoria in 1871, the world's leading artists from many performance genres ...
,
Wigmore Hall The Wigmore Hall is a concert hall at 36 Wigmore Street, in west London. It was designed by Thomas Edward Collcutt and opened in 1901 as the Bechstein Hall; it is considered to have particularly good building acoustics, acoustics. It specialis ...
, Victoria Concert Hall, Fondation Louis Vuitton, the
Seoul Arts Center The Seoul Arts Center (SAC; ) is an arts complex in Seocho District, Seoul, South Korea. It consists of five main buildings: the Opera House, with three auditoriums; the Music Hall, with two concert halls; the Hangaram Art Museum; the Hangaram D ...
, and the
National Concert Hall The National Concert Hall (NCH) (An Ceoláras Náisiúnta) is a national cultural institution, sometimes described as "the home of music in Ireland". It comprises the actual concert hall operation, which in various chambers hosts over 1,000 ...
in
Taipei , nickname = The City of Azaleas , image_map = , map_caption = , pushpin_map = Taiwan#Asia#Pacific Ocean#Earth , coordinates = , subdivision_type = Country ...
, among many other venues. He has also made appearances at the
Aspen Music Festival The Aspen Music Festival and School (AMFS) is a classical music festival held annually in Aspen, Colorado. It is noted both for its concert programming and the musical training it offers to mostly young-adult music students. Founded in 1949, th ...
, the Bravo! Vail Music Festival, the
Ravinia Festival Ravinia Festival is a primarily outdoor music venue in Highland Park, Illinois. It hosts a series of outdoor concerts and performances every summer from June to September in a wide variety of musical genres from classical to pop. The first orche ...
, Gstaad Menuhin Festival, and
Verbier Festival The Verbier Festival is a two week annual international music festival which is held in late July and early August in the mountain resort of Verbier southeast of Lausanne, Switzerland. Begun by Swedish expatriate in 1994, it has attracted int ...
. In 2023, Lim was included in the ''Forbes'' 30 Under 30 list under the Arts category for Asia. On July 7 of the same year, the
Steinway & Sons Steinway & Sons, also known as Steinway (), is a German-American piano company, founded in 1853 in New York City by German piano builder Henry E. Steinway, Heinrich Engelhard Steinweg (later known as Henry E. Steinway). The company's growth le ...
label released an album of Lim's live performance of
Liszt Franz Liszt (22 October 1811 – 31 July 1886) was a Hungarian composer, virtuoso pianist, conductor and teacher of the Romantic period. With a diverse body of work spanning more than six decades, he is considered to be one of the most pro ...
's
Transcendental Études The ''Transcendental Études'' (), S.139, is a set of twelve compositions for piano by Franz Liszt. They were published in 1852 as a revision of an 1837 set (which had not borne the title "d'exécution transcendante"), which in turn were – f ...
from the semi-final round of the Van Cliburn competition. The album debuted at number 5 on ''Billboard'''s Traditional Classical Albums chart. In August 2023, ''Crescendo'', a feature documentary that follows the 16th Van Cliburn International Piano Competition's proceedings and Lim's emergence, premiered at the Jecheon International Music and Film Festival. In October 2023, Lim signed with
Decca Classics Decca Records is a British record label established in 1929 by Edward Lewis (Decca), Edward Lewis after his acquisition of a gramophone manufacturer, The Decca Gramophone Company. It set up an American subsidiary under the Decca name, which bec ...
on an exclusive recording contract. His first recording on the label was released on April 19, 2024. In May 2025, Decca Classics released Lim’s live performance of Rachmaninoff's Third Piano Concerto from the 2022 Van Cliburn Competition.


Discography


Awards

* 2018: Cleveland International Piano Competition for Young Artists – Second Prize * 2018: Thomas & Evon Cooper International Competition – Third Prize and Audience Prize * 2019:
Isang Yun Competition The ISANGYUN Competition is an international music competition, held annually in Tongyeong, South Korea. It commemorates Isang Yun (1917–1995), a Korean composer who was born in Tongyeong and later settled in Germany. The competition was est ...
– First Prize * 2022:
Van Cliburn International Piano Competition The Van Cliburn International Piano Competition (The Cliburn) is an American piano competition by The Cliburn, first held in 1962 in Fort Worth, Texas and hosted by the Van Cliburn Foundation. Initially held at Texas Christian University, the ...
– Gold Medal, Audience Award, and Best Performance of a New Work * 2023: ''Forbes'' 30 Under 30 * 2024:
Gramophone Classical Music Awards The Gramophone Classical Music Awards, launched in 1977, are one of the most significant honours bestowed on recordings in the classical record industry. The British awards are often viewed as equivalent to or surpassing the American Grammy ...
– Best Piano Recording (Chopin Études), and Young Artist of the Year * 2024
Diapason d’Or de l’Année
- Jeune Talent (Chopin Études) * 2025
BBC Music Magazine Awards
- Recording of the Year (Chopin Études), and Instrumental Award, and Newcomer Award


References


External links


Yunchan Lim
-
IMG Artists IMG Artists is a performing arts management company. The company manages the careers of classical and contemporary artists, dance companies, film with orchestra presentations and shows and attractions as well as produce and manage tours and events ...

Yunchan Lim
-
AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

Yunchan Lim
-
Discogs Discogs ( ; short for " discographies") is a database of information about audio recordings, including commercial releases, promotional releases, and bootleg or off-label releases. Database contents are user-generated, and described in ''T ...
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lim, Yunchan 2004 births Living people 21st-century South Korean classical pianists 21st-century South Korean male musicians 21st-century South Korean musicians Korea National University of Arts alumni Musicians from Gyeonggi Province People from Siheung Prize-winners of the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition South Korean pianists South Korean classical pianists