An 18-year-old from South Korea won the 16th Van Cliburn International Piano Competition, one of the top showcases for the world’s best pianists.
The competition, held in Fort Worth, Texas, ended Saturday night with Yunchan Lim becoming the competition’s youngest winner of the gold medal. His winnings include a $ 100,000 cash award and three years of career management.
The silver medalist was Anna Geniushene, a 31-year-old from Russia, and the bronze medalist is Dmytro Choni, a 28-year-old from Ukraine.
Lim told the Fort Worth Star Telegram that he would discuss with his teacher what the next step for his career should be.
“I’m still a student and I feel I still have a lot to learn,” Lim said. “It’s a great competition and I feel the burden of receiving this great honor and award, so I’ll just push myself to live up to the honor I received today.”
The competition was established in 1962 in honor of the celebrated pianist Van Cliburn, who lived in Fort Worth. Cliburn, who died in 2013 at the age of 78, has played for U.S. presidents, royalty and heads of state around the world. He is best remembered for winning the first International Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow in 1958, at the height of the Cold War.
The competition is traditionally held every four years. This year’s competition was originally scheduled for last year, but has been postponed due to the pandemic.
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