Yunchan Lim

Born in Siheung, South Korea on March 20th, 2004, Lim began piano lessons at seven years old and quickly progressed through the grades of study. At the age of 13 he was accepted into the Korea National Institute for the Gifted in Arts, where he met teacher and mentor Minsoo Sohn, and a year later he won Second Prize at the Cleveland International Piano Competition for Young Artists.

Lim’s major breakthrough came in 2022 when, at just 18 years old, he won both the Gold Medal and the Audience Award at the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition, becoming the youngest winner in the competition’s history. His final round performance of Rachmaninov’s Piano Concerto No. 3 was listed as one of the year’s top ten classical performances by the New York Times, and has since become the most watched version of that piece on the video sharing platform YouTube. This success catapulted Lim to international stardom and a host of orchestral debuts ensued, including with the BBC, Lucerne and Boston Symphony Orchestras, and the Los Angeles and New York Philharmonics.

Today, Lim is one of the most sought-after pianists on the planet, performing regularly with many of the world’s leading orchestras, and at premier events and venues across the globe. An exclusive Decca Classics recording artist, his debut studio album, Chopin: Études, Opp. 10 & 25, topped classical charts around the world, and won multiple awards including the 2024 Gramophone Award for Piano and the 2025 BBC Music Magazine Award for Recording of the Year. The label has since released Lim’s 2022 live performance of Rachmaninov’s Piano Concerto No. 3 to similarly widespread acclaim.