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18-year-old pianist Yunchan Lim became the youngest ever winner of the American Van Cliburn Competition, which boasts world-class authority.
This is a report by Kim Soo-hyun, a reporter specializing in culture and art.
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[Gold medal at Van Cliburn Competition, Yunchan Lim!]
18-year-old pianist Yunchan Lim won the gold medal at the 16th Van Cliburn Competition.
This is the youngest win in the 60-year history of the event.
Im, a student at the Korea National University of Arts, received enthusiastic acclaim for his Beethoven and Rachmaninoff Concerto in the final six-person competition.
He became a hot topic for his bold and outstanding performances in every contest, including the semifinal contest where he performed all of List's Transcendental Techniques Practice Songs.
Lim received a prize of $100,000, a three-year North American tour, and a gold medal for management, as well as the Best New Performance Award and Audience Award.
2nd place went to Anna Genushene of Russia and 3rd place went to Dmitro Chony of Ukraine, where performers from two countries at war stood side by side on the podium.
This competition commemorates the American pianist Van Cliburn, who won the 1st International Tchaikovsky Competition in the former Soviet Union during the Cold War.
It is held every four years, and this competition has been postponed by one year due to the corona virus.
In 2017, the previous competition, Seonwoo Ye-kwon won the first Korean title, so there was a record of two consecutive Korean championships.