Rising Star Pianist Lim Yoon-Chan Shines at Tongyeong International Music Festival

On March 28, 2025, at the Tongyeong International Music Hall in South Korea, over 1,060 students from local middle and high schools enthusiastically responded to the question, "Who is the rising superstar in the classical music world?" with a resounding, "Lim Yoon-Chan!" The 21-year-old pianist, who is this year's resident artist at the festival, performed Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto No. 2 during the opening concert.

Lim Yoon-Chan, who gained international fame after winning the 2022 Van Cliburn International Piano Competition, where his performance of Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto No. 3 garnered 17 million views on YouTube, made his domestic debut with Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto No. 2 at this festival. The students of Tongyeong became the first audience to witness his performance. The school concert served as a final rehearsal before the festival's official opening, while also fostering connections with local residents and students. A first-year student from Tongyeong Girls' High School, Kim Ha-Kyung (16), expressed her admiration, stating, "I watched his performance video at school, and I found his passionate playing for over 40 minutes truly inspiring." Second grader Lee Chae-Ah (9) from Jin Nam Elementary School exclaimed, "Lim Yoon-Chan oppa looks so cool playing the piano!"

The festival officially kicked off with Lim Yoon-Chan, who performed Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto No. 2 twice on the opening day, once during the school concert and again in the evening with the Tongyeong Festival Orchestra, conducted by Fabien Gabel. His rendition of the concerto was powerful and intense from the very first movement, with each note infused with strength. In contrast, the third movement showcased his ability to inject tension and vitality by playing with sharp staccato and brisk tempos. The only difference in his attire was that he wore casual clothes in the morning and a sharp suit in the evening.

On March 30, he took the stage again for a solo recital of Bach's "Goldberg Variations," a monumental work featuring 30 variations between the first and last aria. Lim Yoon-Chan's intense personality and originality, which seem to deconstruct and reassemble each variation, have become his trademarks. He is also set to perform the same piece at Carnegie Hall in New York next month, giving his domestic fans a preview. Tickets for his Bach recital sold out in just 58 seconds, while tickets for the Rachmaninoff collaboration were gone in a minute.

Fans who missed out on tickets were seen in the lobby before the solo recital holding signs that read, "Looking for Lim Yoon-Chan tickets," with nearly 100 attendees watching his performance on a large screen in the concert hall corridor. Jin Eun-Sook, the artistic director of the Tongyeong International Music Festival, remarked on the overwhelming popularity, saying, "I heard it was hard to get tickets due to his soaring popularity, but I didn't expect it to be this intense."

Lim Yoon-Chan has a special connection to Tongyeong, having won the Tongyeong International Music Competition at the age of 15, making him the youngest winner at that time. Jin noted, "After winning the competition, performing here feels like coming home for him. Fortunately, when we invited him, he readily accepted."

This year's festival also highlights works by French composer and conductor Pierre Boulez, who would have turned 100, and the late Korean composer Yun Isang, marking the 30th anniversary of his passing. The festival will conclude on April 6 with Benjamin Britten's "War Requiem." This year's event aims to capture both the widespread popularity generated by Lim Yoon-Chan and the expertise in contemporary music. Kim So-Hyun, the head of the Tongyeong International Music Foundation, stated, "Our long-term goal is to expand our audience beyond Korea to include Japan, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and other parts of Asia, and we have already taken steps toward that goal."