Since becoming the youngest person to ever win the gold at the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition at age 18 in 2022, Yunchan Lim has had a meteoric ascent to international stardom. Marin Alsop has said: “Yunchan is that rare artist who brings profound musicality and prodigious technique organically together.”
In the years after his Cliburn win, Lim made successful orchestral debuts with the New York, Los Angeles, Munich and Seoul Philharmonic orchestras, as well as with Chicago, Lucerne, BBC, Boston and Tokyo Symphony orchestras, among others. Recital appearances include performances at Carnegie Hall, Verbier Festival, the Wigmore Hall, Het Concertgebouw and Suntory Hall, among other major stages.
Lim’s 2024/25 season highlights included orchestral debuts with Washington National Symphony, London Symphony, Royal Philharmonic, Vienna Radio Symphony, Berlin Radio Symphony and WDR Symphony Orchestras, as well as returns to the New York Philharmonic, Lucerne Symphony Orchestra and Orchestra de Paris. That season also saw his recital debut at the Kennedy Center and a return to Carnegie Hall.
An exclusive Decca Classics recording artist, Lim saw his acclaimed debut studio album, Chopin Études, Op.10 & 25, go triple platinum in South Korea and top the classical-music charts worldwide. His previous releases include Liszt’s Transcendental Études (Steinway & Sons), Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 5 (Emperor) (Universal Music Group) and KBS’ 2020 Young Musicians of Korea album.
Born in Siheung, Korea, 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, at 15, he became the youngest person to win Korea’s Isang Yun International Competition.
Lim currently studies at the New England Conservatory of Music with his teacher Minsoo Sohn.
June 2025
Please note: Biographies are based on information provided to the CSO by the artists or their representatives. More current information may be available on websites of the artists or their management.
