Yunchan Lim
About this Artist
Since he became the youngest person ever to win gold at the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition at the age of 18 in 2022, Yunchan Lim’s ascent to international stardom has been meteoric. His performances showcase a “magical ability” and a “natural, instinctive quality” (La Scena) that astounds listeners around the world. Marin Alsop, who conducted the 2022 Cliburn Final, said, “Yunchan is that rare artist who brings profound musicality and prodigious technique organically together.”
Lim’s audacious performance of Liszt’s Transcendental Études “created a buzz throughout the international piano community” (Gramophone), and his appearance with Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 3 delivered the defining moment of the competition, as one critic noted. “The applause that followed was endless: A star had emerged before our eyes” (Seen and Heard International). The video of Lim’s Rachmaninoff performance has amassed well over 10 million views. The New York Times listed it as one of the Top 10 Classical Music Performances of 2022.
In the year following his Cliburn win, Lim made successful orchestral debuts with the New York Philharmonic at Lincoln Center and the Los Angeles Philharmonic at the Hollywood Bowl, as well as the Chicago Symphony, Lucerne Symphony, KBS Symphony, and Tokyo Symphony orchestras, among others; and recital debuts at Wigmore Hall, Het Concertgebouw, Suntory Hall, and Seoul Arts Center.
His 2023/24 season highlights include orchestral debuts with the Royal Philharmonic, Munich Philharmonic, Hungarian Radio Symphony, Boston Symphony, Baltimore Symphony, Seoul Philharmonic, and Sendai Philharmonic orchestras, Orchestre philharmonique de Radio France, and Orchestre de Paris. Recital highlights include appearances at Carnegie Hall, Verbier Festival, and Gstaad Festival, among other major stages.
Yunchan Lim is an exclusive Decca Classics artist. In April 2024, he released his debut studio album, Chopin Études, Ops. 10 & 25, worldwide on Decca Classics. His previous releases include his Billboard-charting Van Cliburn Competition performance of Liszt’s Transcendental Études (Steinway & Sons, 2023) and Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 5, “Emperor” (Deutsche Grammophon, 2022). He is featured on KBS’ 2020 Young Musicians of Korea album, performing a selection of works by Beethoven and Liszt. Lim was named an Apple Music Classical Global Ambassador in January 2024.
Born in Siheung, South Korea, Yunchan Lim began piano lessons at age 7. He entered the Music Academy of the Seoul Arts Center the next year and quickly became immersed in his musical studies. He was accepted into the Korea National Institute for the Gifted in Arts at age 13, where he met his teacher and mentor, Minsoo Sohn. A year later, in 2018, he captured international attention when he won both Second Prize and the Chopin Special Award in his first competition, the Cleveland International Piano Competition for Young Artists. That same year, he won both the Third and Audience prizes at the Cooper International Competition, which provided him the opportunity to perform with The Cleveland Orchestra. In 2019, aged only 15, he became the youngest person to win South Korea’s Isang Yun International Competition, also taking home two special prizes.
Following two years at the Korea National University of Arts, Lim currently studies at the New England Conservatory in Boston with his teacher Minsoo Sohn.