Van Cliburn International Piano Competition Gold Medalist Makes Nebraska Debut

In June 2022, Yunchan Lim became the youngest person ever to win gold at the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition; his performances throughout showcased an ability and quality that astounded listeners around the world.

As Jury Chair Marin Alsop expressed: "Yunchan is that rare artist who brings profound musicality and prodigious technique organically together." The depth of his artistry and connection to listeners also secured him the Audience Award and Best Performance of a New Work (for Sir Stephen Hough's Fanfare Toccata). This April, he makes his Nebraska debut with a performance at the Lied Center for Performing Arts.

Van Cliburn Gold Medalist Yunchan Lim

Sunday, April 16 at 7:00pm

In-person and live webcast tickets available at Click Here, (402) 472-4747, and at the Lied Center box office

Once every four years, a new gold medalist emerges from the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition. As Nebraska's official Van Cliburn presenter since 1994, the Lied Center presents the newly awarded Van Cliburn Gold Medalist for the first time. With previous winners including Olga Kern, Vadym Kholodenko, Jon Nakamatsu, and Behzod Abduraimov, the Cliburn is widely considered to be one of the world's preeminent music contests.

Just 18 years old, Yunchan's ascent to international stardom has been meteoric. His audacious Cliburn Semifinal Round performance of Liszt's Transcendental Etudes "created a buzz throughout the international piano community"-his "intelligent virtuosity and total immersion into Liszt's idiom truly defined transcendental" (Gramophone). And his final Cliburn Competition appearance with Rachmaninov's Piano Concerto No. 3 delivered the defining moment of the three-week event; as one critic noted: "The applause that followed was endless: a star had emerged before our eyes" (Seen and Heard International). The video of that performance trended globally on YouTube in the days after and has now become the most-watched version of that piece on the platform, amassing more than 5.5 million views in just one month

Yunchan has performed across his native 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. His 2022-2023 inaugural tour as Cliburn winner takes him across four continents, with highlights including the Aspen Music Festival, La Jolla Music Society, and Performing Arts Houston in the United States; Seoul Arts Center, National Concert Hall in Taipei, and the KBS and Korean National Symphony Orchestras in Asia; and recital tours in Europe and South America.

The Lied Center is Nebraska's Home for the Arts. Located at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, the Lied presents the world's most iconic artists and major regional, national and international performances that entertain and inspire audiences. We offer something for everyone, including the best of Broadway, symphony orchestras, dance, music, theater and family programs. Artists at the Lied have ranged from Itzhak Perlman and Wynton Marsalis to the American Ballet Theatre and St. Louis Symphony. The Lied also is committed to educational outreach: Nearly 100% of visiting artists work with students in the days leading up to their performance. Visit us at liedcenter.org