Pianist Park Kyung-sun Wins 3rd Place and Special Award at the Horowitz Competition

Pianist Park Kyung-sun (31) ranked 3rd in the 'Horowitz Competition Kyiv-Geneva.'

Pianist Park Kyung-sun Photo by Kumho Cultural Foundation

According to the Kumho Cultural Foundation on the 23rd, Park Kyung-sun received 3rd place and the Horowitz Special Prize at the Horowitz Competition, which concluded on the 21st (local time) in Geneva, Switzerland.

The 'Horowitz Competition' was established in 1995 to honor the legendary pianist Vladimir Horowitz (1903?1989), who grew up in Kyiv, Ukraine. It had been held in Kyiv until now, but due to the Russia-Ukraine war, this year it was held in Geneva, Switzerland.

Park Kyung-sun will receive a prize of 10,000 francs (approximately 14.68 million KRW) and a special prize of 3,000 francs (approximately 4.4 million KRW). The 1st place was awarded to Roman Pediurko from Ukraine, and 2nd place went to Julian Trevelyan from the United Kingdom.

The competition is divided into three groups according to the participants' ages, with one group held every three years in rotation. This year, it was held for pianists aged 16 to 33.

Previous Korean winners of the Horowitz Competition include Kim Go-woon (1st place in the senior group in 2010) and Kim Jun-hee (1st place in the senior group in 2017).

Park Kyung-sun graduated from Seoul National University College of Music and completed her master's degree at the Royal College of Music in London, UK. She completed the Meister course at the University of Music and Performing Arts Munich and is currently enrolled in the Konzertexamen (highest performance degree) program at the Berlin University of the Arts.

Since performing on the Kumho Young Artist Concert stage of the Kumho Cultural Foundation in 2013, Park Kyung-sun has proven her skills by winning 1st place at the Japan International Open Competition, 1st place and Audience Award at the Munich Gasthaik Music Competition, 1st place at the Windsor International Piano Competition, and 2nd place at the 2019 Isang Yun International Music Competition.