YUNCHAN LIM ANNOUNCED AS GOLD MEDALIST FOR SIXTEENTH VAN CLIBURN INTERNATIONAL PIANO COMPETITION
Contact:
Maggie Estes, director of communications and digital content, mestes@cliburn.org, 817.739.0459
FORT WORTH, Texas, June 18, 2022— After two and half weeks of high-level competition and exceptional music-making, the winners of the Sixteenth Van Cliburn International Piano Competition were announced tonight by Jury Chair Marin Alsop at the Nancy Lee and Perry R. Bass Performance Hall in Fort Worth, Texas USA.
“Sixty years ago, inspired by Van Cliburn’s legacy, the first Cliburn Competition was held,” said Jacques Marquis, Cliburn president and CEO. “It had two main objectives: to discover and support young, exceptional artists, and to bring this beautiful music to the world. Today, we’re proud to say that these have both held true with this sixteenth edition. It brought us all together for a glorious 17 days that knew no boundaries, for a moving celebration of great music. These pianists have been truly inspirational.”
Commenting on his win Jury Chair Marin Alsop said, "It has been inspiring to witness a talent of Yunchan's magnitude. All finalists showed exceptional musicality and artistry, yet Yunchan stood out among them. Throughout these last three weeks, but particularly his spectacular performance of Rachmaninov's third piano concerto showed that even at the age of 18 he already exhibits exceptional depth and dazzling technique. I look forward to seeing him develop in the years to come and our future collaborations."
Watch Yunchan's full performance of Rachmaninov's third piano concerto here.
Download Hi-res photos of Yunchan here.
The winner of the Nancy Lee and Perry R. Bass Gold Medal and the Van Cliburn Winner’s Cup is Yunchan Lim, South Korea, 18
Yunchan Lim, the gold medalist, will receive a cash award of $100,000; three years individualized career management, including U.S. and international concert tours; Steinway Recording Prize Studio Album; promotional package including press kits, videos; website; performance attire provided by Neiman Marcus
Award made possible by a gift from Nancy Lee and Perry R. Bassd*
The silver medalist is Anna Geniushene, Russia, 31, who will receive a cash award of $50,000; three years individualized career management and U.S. concert tours; promotional package including press kits, videos, website; and performance attire
Awarded by Mr. and Mrs. Fuller French and Family in honor of Adelaide Polk Fuller
The bronze medalist is Dmytro Choni, Ukraine, 28, who will receive a cash award of $25,000; three years individualized career management and
U.S. concert tours;
promotional package including press kits, videos, website; performance attire.
Awarded by the Mollie and Garland Lasater Charitable Fund at the North Texas Community Foundation
The remaining three finalists will receive cash awards of $10,000 each. They are Uladzislau Khandohi, Belarus, 20; Ilya Shmukler, Russia, 27; Clayton Stephenson, United States, 23
Awards made possible by a gift from Mr. and Mrs. John B. Kleinheinz*, Janny and Warren Strickland Schwab Charitable, and Juana-Rosa and Rond Daniell
The Cliburn 2022 webcast broke previous Cliburn streaming records with a global online audience of over 9 million following the Competition in more than 170 countries.
As part of the Cliburn's solidarity with the Ukrainian people, the Ukrainian National Anthem was performed in the Awards Ceremony by Kyiv-born 2013 Cliburn Gold Medalist Vadym Kholodenko.
OTHER AWARDS
Award for the Best Performance of a Mozart Concerto, with a cash prize of $5,000, was awarded to Ilya Shmukler.
Awarded by Anton Nel
The Beverley Taylor Smith Award for the Best Performance of a New Work, with a cash prize of $5,000, was awarded to Yunchan Lim.
Award made possible by a gift from the Estate of Gordon William Smith*
The winner of the John Giordano Jury Chairman Discretionary Award, with a cash prize of $4,000, is Marcel Tadokoro, France/Japan, age 28.
Award made possible by a gift from Mary D. and F. Howard Walshd*
The winner of the Raymond E. Buck Jury Discretionary Award, with a cash prize of $4,000, is Andrew Li, United States, age 22.
Award made possible by a gift from the Raymond E. Buck Foundation*
The winner of the Patricia and Neal Steffen Family Jury Discretionary Award, with a cash prize of $4,000, is Changyong Shin, South Korea, age 28.
Award made possible by a gift from Patricia A. Steffen*
The Carla and Kelly Thompson Audience Award presented by medici.tv was determined by more than 13,400 votes from 84 countries to cliburn.medici.tv. The Audience Award winner, Yunchan Lim will receive a cash award of $2,500.
Award made possible by a gift from Carla and Kelly Thompson*
The semifinalists will receive cash awards of $5,000 each.
The quarterfinalists will receive cash awards of $2,500 each.
Preliminary Round competitors will receive cash awards of $1,000 each.
*Funded by a generous donation to the Cliburn Endowment
d Deceased
Download hi-res Competition photos here.
Gold Medalist
Yunchan Lim, South Korea, 18
Yunchan Lim launched onto the international music stage when he was 14. He won second prize and the Chopin Special Award in his first-ever competition, the Cleveland International Piano Competition for Young Artists in 2018. That same year, he stood out as the youngest participant in the Cooper International Competition, where he won the third prize and the audience prize, which provided the opportunity for him to perform with the Cleveland Orchestra. 2019 meant more accolades, when, at the age of 15, he was the youngest to win Korea’s IsangYun International Competition, where he also took home two special prizes.
Now just 18, he has performed across South Korea—including with the Korean Orchestra Festival, Korea Symphony, Suwon Philharmonic, and Busan Philharmonic Orchestras, among others—as well as in Madrid, at the invitation of the Korea Cultural Center in Spain. He also participated in the recording of “2020 Young Musicians of Korea,” organized by the Korean Broadcasting System and released that November.
A native of Siheung, Yunchan currently studies at the Korea National University of Arts under Minsoo Sohn. Coming to Fort Worth, he says he is “looking forward to playing in front of the warmest and most passionate audience in the world.”
Silver Medalist
Anna Geniushene, Russia, 31
Born in Moscow on New Year’s Day in 1991, Anna Geniushene made her recital debut just seven years later in the small hall of the Berlin Philharmonic. She has since developed a diverse and versatile career as an artist: performances in major world venues such as the Town Hall in Leeds, National Concert Hall in Dublin, Museum of Arts in Tel Aviv, the Konzerthaus ‘Neue Welt,’ Great Hall of Moscow Conservatory, and Sala Greppi in Milan; a dedication to chamber music, including duo piano repertoire with her husband, Lukas Geniušas, and close collaboration with Quartetto di Cremona; and the creation of her own festival of collaborative music-making (NikoFest).
During the pandemic, Anna’s penchant for creativity manifested in online projects, such as a series of online recitals for the Vancouver Chopin Society, participation in the “Armchairs Season” of the Moscow Philharmonic, and recording sessions for the ConSpirito music channel on YouTube. Her debut CD was released on LINN Records in March 2020.
A laureate of major international piano contests, she has had strong finishes at the Leeds, Tchaikovsky, Busoni, and Dublin Competitions. She sees her participation in the Cliburn as a “dream,” as an “opportunity to be part of a very friendly community, to find a new audience, and to challenge myself.”
Anna graduated from the Moscow Tchaikovsky Conservatory in 2015, and completed her Master’s with Distinction and Advanced Diploma from the Royal Academy of Music (London) in 2018. She has also been one of the elite Bicentenary Scholars at the Academy under the tutelage of Christopher Elton.
Bronze Medalist
Dmytro Choni, Ukraine, 28
Dmytro Choni began piano in his native Kyiv when he was 4 years old. After a particularly meaningful performance at the age of 14, which he calls “a turning point,” his lifelong journey of professional musicianship began. He earned a bachelor’s degree from the Tchaikovsky National Music Academy of Ukraine under the guidance of Yuri Kot, then moved to Austria in 2015 to study with Milana Chernyavska at the Kunstuniversität Graz.
A prizewinner at nearly 20 international piano competitions, he has taken first prize at six: Santander (Spain), Bösendorfer USASU (USA), Los Angeles, ZF-Musikpreis (Germany), Roma (Italy), and Tucumán (Argentina). Dmytro is a laureate of other top competitions, including Leeds, Vendome, Busoni, and Horowitz, and recipient of top young artist prizes at Interlaken Classics (Switzerland) and Piano Academy Eppan (Italy). He now comes to Fort Worth, calling the Cliburn “nothing else but my dream.”
Dmytro has collaborated with renowned orchestras, such as the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, Phoenix Symphony, RTVE Symphony, Seongnam Philharmonic, Ukraine National Symphony, Liechtenstein Symphony, and Dominican Republic National Symphony Orchestras. His performances in major halls in Europe, Asia, South America, and the United States (including Carnegie Hall and Merkin Hall in January 2022) have made a lasting impression on his musical development.
Dmytro’s debut album was released by Naxos in 2020; it received a “Supersonic Award” from Pizzicato and was highly acclaimed by the international critics, one raving he “could be one of the 21st century’s most outstanding pianists.” In March, he told the Fort Worth Report that music is “always kind of a hideaway from what’s going on in the world. Through the music, you can try to project the best possible emotion, the optimism, the hope.”
Widely considered one of the preeminent international music contests, the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition exists to share excellent classical music with the largest international audience possible and to launch the careers of its winners every four years. Building on a rich tradition that began with its 1962 origins in honor of Van Cliburn and his vision for using music to serve audiences and break down boundaries, the Cliburn seeks, with each edition, to achieve the highest artistic standards while utilizing contemporary tools to advance its reach. The world’s top 18- to 30-year-old pianists compete for gold in front of a live audience in Fort Worth, Texas, as well as a global online viewership of over 10 million. Beyond cash prizes, winning a Cliburn medal means comprehensive career management, artistic support, and bolstered publicity efforts for the three years following.
The sixteenth edition of the Cliburn Competition took place June 2–18, 2022 in Fort Worth, Texas at the brand-new Van Cliburn Concert Hall at TCU (Preliminary and Quarterfinal Rounds) and Bass Performance Hall (Semifinal and Final Rounds). The Competition, postponed from 2021 (a first in the Cliburn’s 60-year history), saw a record-breaking number of applications—388 pianists from 51 countries. The Cliburn’s expert panels selected the 30 extraordinary artists who will compete.
The fully produced webcast broadcast all 28 Competition performances live—as well as offered insightful commentary and behind-the-scenes access emulating a news- or sportscast—across multiple platforms. Viewers around the world watched the entire Competition live and on demand at Cliburn.org, cliburn.medici.tv, and youtube.com/thecliburn. New this year: the Cliburn was available in 4K HDR and surround sound. Viewers can subscribe at hyfi.live/vancliburn to experience the next best thing to being in the concert hall.
Click for biographies. Click for hi-res photos.
- Marin Alsop, jury chair (United States)
- Jean-Efflam Bavouzet (France)
- Alessio Bax (Italy)
- Rico Gulda (Austria)
- Andreas Haefliger (Switzerland)
- Wu Han (China Taiwan/United States)
- Stephen Hough (United Kingdom)
- Anne-Marie McDermott (United States)
- Orli Shaham (Israel/United States)
- Lilya Zilberstein (Germany)
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Fort Worth Promotion and Development Fund
Fort Worth Tourism Public Improvement District
Historic Hilton Fort Worth
Luther King Capital Management
Meta Alice Keith Bratten Donor Advised Fund at the North Texas Community
Foundation
Mercedes T. Bass Management Trust
National Endowment for the Arts
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Texas Commission on the Arts
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