“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 19 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 Boston, Chicago, Lucerne, BBC Symphony orchestras, Radio France and Orchestre de Paris among others. Recital appearances included performances at Carnegie Hall, Verbier Festival, Paris Philharmonie, Walt Disney Hall, the Wigmore Hall, Het Concertgebouw, and Suntory Hall. Yunchan regularly works with conductors such as Alsop, Chung, Mäkelä, Pappano, Dudamel, Harding, Bychkov, Nelsons, Hrůša, Jurowski, Järvi, Macelaru, Noseda, Shani, to name a few.

Yunchan’s upcoming 2026/27 season highlights include a series of recitals performing the complete cycle of Mozart’s piano sonatas at both Carnegie Hall and Wigmore Hall, with additional recital debuts featuring selections of the all-Mozart programme at the Berlin Philharmonie, Hamburg Elphilharmonie, Vienna Musikverein, Teatro di San Carlo, Teatro del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, Auditorio Nacional de Música Madrid, L’Auditori Barcelona, as well as returning to the Paris Philharmonie and Het Concertgebouw, and other major stages accoss South Korea. This season will also see his much anticipated debut with the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra under the baton of Klaus Mäkelä, as well as returning to Amsterdam Concertgebouw, Philadelphia Orchestra, the Chicago Symphony and Cleveland Orchestras under the baton of Esa-Pekka Salonen, and returning to the Piano Festival in Lucerne performing with the Lucerne Symphony Orchestra under Mikhail Pletnev. Yunchan will also embark on a Korean tour alongside the Philadelphia Orchestra and Marin Alsop.

Yunchan’s 2025/26 season highlights include opening the First Night of the BBC Proms, as well as orchestral debuts with the Philadelphia Orchestra, Staatskapelle Dresden, Santa Cecilia, Concertgebouw, and Gewandhaus Orchestras, and embarking on a European tour with the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra under the baton of Semyon Bychkov marking his debuts at the Lucerne, Dvořák Prague, Baltic Sea, and Helsinki Festivals. The 25/26 season also saw Yunchan return to the New York Philharmonic, Los Angeles

Philharmonic, Boston Symphony, Chicago Symphony Orchestras, Orchestre de Paris, and the Ravinia and Verbier Festivals; as well as recitals in Los Angeles, Chicago, Boston, Carnegie Hall, and Wigmore Hall among other major stages.

Yunchan Lim is an exclusive Decca Classics recording artist, and he has been awarded the Opus Klassik Instrumentalist of the Year 2026 for his latest release Bach’s Goldberg Variations live from Carnegie Hall. Yunchan’s acclaimed debut studio album, Chopin Études Opp.10 & 25 has gone quadruple 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, as well as receiving a prestigious Diapason d’Or de l’anée. 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.

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 studied at the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston with his teacher Minsoo Sohn.

Press photos can be downloaded here.