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. Marin Alsop, who conducted the 2022 Cliburn Final, said, “Yunchan is that rare artist who brings profound musicality and prodigious technique organically together.”
In the years following his Cliburn win, Lim made successful orchestral debuts with the New York, Los Angeles, Munich, and Seoul philharmonic orchestras, as well as the Chicago, Lucerne, BBC, Boston, and Tokyo symphony orchestras. Recital appearances include performances at Carnegie Hall, the Verbier Festival, Wigmore Hall, Het Concertgebouw, and Suntory Hall.
Lim’s 2025/26 season highlights include orchestral debuts with the Philadelphia, Staatskapelle Dresden, Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, Concertgebouw, and Gewandhaus orchestras, as well as returns to the New York Philharmonic, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Boston Symphony, Chicago Symphony, and Orchestre de Paris. The season will also see recitals in Los Angeles, Chicago, Boston, Carnegie Hall, and Wigmore Hall, among other major stages.
Yunchan Lim is an exclusive Decca Classics recording artist. His acclaimed debut studio album, Chopin: Études, Opp. 10 & 25, has gone triple platinum in South Korea and topped the classical charts around the world. His previous releases include Liszt’s Transcendental Études (Steinway & Sons); Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 5, “Emperor” (Universal Music Group); and his appearance on KBS’ 2020 Young Musicians of Korea album.
Born in Siheung, South Korea, Yunchan Lim began piano lessons at age 7. 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. In 2019, aged only 15, he became the youngest person to win South Korea’s ISANGYUN International Competition. Lim currently studies at the New England Conservatory of Music with his teacher Minsoo Sohn.