Yunchan Lim

“A one-in-a-million talent.” – Dallas Morning News
“I made up my mind that I will live my life only for the sake of music, and I decided that I will give up everything for music… I want my music to become deeper, and if that desire reaches the audience, I’m satisfied.” – Yunchan Lim

Since becoming the youngest person to ever 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, bringing “profound musicality and prodigious technique organically together” (Marin Alsop).

His audacious performance of Liszt’s Transcendental Etudes “created a buzz throughout the international piano community” (Gramophone), and his appearance with Rachmaninov’s Piano Concerto No. 3 delivered the defining moment of 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 Yunchan’s Rachmaninov performance trended globally on YouTube in the days after and has now become the most-watched version of that piece on the platform, amassing well over 17 million views. The New York Times later listed it as one of the Top 10 Classical Music Performances of 2022.

In the years following his Cliburn win, Yunchan made successful orchestral debuts with the New York, Los Angeles, Munich, Tokyo, and Seoul Philharmonic orchestras, as well as Chicago, Lucerne, BBC, Boston Symphony orchestras, Radio France and Orchestre de Paris among others. Recital appearances included performances at Carnegie Hall, Verbier Festival, the Wigmore Hall, Het Concertgebouw, and Suntory Hall. Yunchan regularly works with conductors such as Alsop, Chung, Dutoit, Dudamel, Gaffigan, Järvi, Macelaru, Mäkelä, Noseda, Pappano, Pintscher, Sokhiev, Søndergård, Van Zweden, and Yamada to name a few.

Yunchan’s upcoming 2025/26 season highlights include orchestral debuts with Philadelphia Orchestra, Staatskapelle Dresden, Santa Cecilia, Concertgebouw, and Gewandhaus Orchestras, as well as returning to New York Philharmonic, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Boston Symphony, Chicago Symphony Orchestras, and Orchestre de Paris. The season will also see recitals in Los Angeles, Chicago, Boston, Carnegie Hall, and Wigmore Hall among other major stages.

The 2024/25 season saw Yunchan’s return to the BBC Proms and Verbier Festival, as well as returning to the Los Angeles Philharmonic, New York Philharmonic, and Orchestre de Paris. The season also saw orchestral debuts with Washington National, Vienna Radio, Berlin Radio, WDR, City of Birmingham, and London Symphony orchestras, as well as the Royal Philharmonic, Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie, Cleveland, and Minnesota orchestras. Yunchan made recital debuts playing Bach’s Goldberg Variations at the Kennedy Center, Paris Philharmonie, and The Arts Center in Abu Dhabi, as well as performing at Chamber Music San Francisco, Vancouver Recital Society, La Jolla Music Society, Gstaad Menuhin Festival, and La Roque-d’Anthéron Festival among other stages, which was highly praised by crtitcs showing “a virtuoso display of how much one pianist can pack into this single work” (Financial Times).

As an exclusive Decca Classics recording artist, Yunchan Lim’s acclaimed debut studio album, Chopin Études Opp.10 & 25 has gone triple platinum in South Korea and topped the classical charts around the world. The album won the 2024 Gramophone Award for Piano, and he was named Young Artist of the Year, received a prestigious Diapason d’Or de l’anée, and saw him nominated for an Opus Klassik. He also made history winning three awards at the BBC Music Magazine Awards, including Recording of the Year. His other releases on the label include the recording of his momentous performance of Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No.3 live from the Cliburn Competition final, and Tchaikovsky’s The Seasons. His previous releases include his award-winning Cliburn performance of Liszt’s Transcendental Études (Steinway & Sons), Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 5 “Emperor” (Universal Music Group), and his appearance on KBS’s 2020 Young Musicians of Korea album. Since January 2024, Yunchan has been an Apple Music Classical Global Ambassador.

Born in Siheung, 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 auditioned for and 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 also provided him the opportunity to perform with The Cleveland Orchestra. In 2019, aged only 15, he became the youngest person to win Korea’s IsangYun International Competition, where he also took home two special prizes.

Following two years at the Korea National University of Arts, Yunchan is currently studying at the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston with his teacher Minsoo Sohn.