Pianist Lee Hyuk narrowly misses placing in the Chopin Competition finals

Pianist Lee Hyuk

[Asia Economy Reporter Donghyun Choi] Pianist Lee Hyuk advanced to the finals of the 18th Chopin Competition but failed to win a prize.

The Frederic Chopin Society announced the results of the finals of the 18th International Chopin Piano Competition on the 21st (local time) at the Warsaw Philharmonic Concert Hall in Warsaw, Poland. Bruce Liu from Canada won first place, second place went to Alexander Gadjiev (Italy/Slovenia) and Kyohei Sorita (Japan), third place to Mart?n Garc?a Garc?a (Spain), fourth place to Aimi Kobayashi (Japan) and Jakub Kuszlik (Poland), fifth place to Leonora Armellini (Italy), and sixth place to J.J. Jun Li Booi (Canada). Lee Hyuk's name was not on the list of awardees.

The Chopin Competition, started in 1927 to honor Polish composer and pianist Frederic Chopin, is considered one of the world's three major piano competitions alongside the Tchaikovsky Competition in Russia and the Queen Elisabeth Competition in Belgium. The competition is held every five years. Last year, it was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic and was held this year after six years. Over 500 participants applied, 96 advanced to the main round, and among the 23 who reached the third round, 12 performed on the final stage.

Koreans who have advanced to the finals of the Chopin Competition include Im Dongmin, Im Donghyuk, and Son Yeol-eum in 2005, and Cho Seong-jin in 2015. Cho Seong-jin won first place at the age of 21, becoming the first Korean to do so. The Im brothers, Dongmin and Donghyuk, tied for third place.

Lee Hyuk, who started playing piano at the age of three, received formal music education at the preparatory course of Sunhwa Arts School. He won the Little Mozart Competition in 2009, and in 2012, he won the Moscow International Youth Chopin Competition and received the Best Concerto Award. He debuted in 2012 with the Kumho Young Artist Concert. In 2016, he became the youngest winner at the age of 16 at the Paderewski International Piano Competition.