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 has had a meteoric ascent to international stardom. 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 Lim’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 more than 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, Lim 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. Lim 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.
Lim’s upcoming 2025/26 season highlights include orchestral debuts with the Philadelphia Orchestra, Staatskapelle Dresden, Santa Cecilia, Concertgebouw and Gewandhaus Orchestras, as well as returns to the New York Philharmonic, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Boston Symphony, Chicago Symphony Orchestra and Orchestre de Paris. The season also will see recitals in Los Angeles, Chicago, Boston, Carnegie Hall and Wigmore Hall, among other major stages.
The 2024/25 season saw his return to the BBC Proms and Verbier Festival, as well as 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.
Lim 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. His performances were highly praised by critics, as Lim showed “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 saw his acclaimed debut studio album of Chopin Études, Op. 10 & 25, go triple platinum in South Korea and top the classical charts around the world. The album won the 2024 Gramophone Award for Piano, and he was named Young Artist of the Year. The disc received a prestigious Diapason d’Or de l’anée and was nominated for an Opus Klassik. He also made history winning by three awards at the BBC Music Awards, including Recording of the Year.
His other releases on Decca include the recording of his momentous performance of Rachmaninov’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’ 2020 Young Musicians of Korea album. Since January 2024, Lim 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, at age 15, he became the youngest person to win Korea’s Isang Yun International Competition, where he also took home two special prizes.
After two years at the Korea National University of Arts, Lim is studying at the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston with his teacher Minsoo Sohn.
August 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.
