Hyuk Lee, 12, beneficiary of a Doosan Group Yonkang Foundation (Chairman Y.H. Park) Scholarship, has become the youngest player ever to be honored with the Grand Prize at the 8th Moscow International Frederick Chopin Competition for Young Pianists, one of the world’s top three youth music competitions.

This year’s contest took place from September 14 to 20, with twenty-four students from seven countries including Russia competing.

Lee won the top prize jointly with 15-year-old Poon Tiffany of China, and he was also honored with an award in the category of collaborative performance with an orchestra. The award ceremony was held at the Moscow International Music House Chamber Hall on September 20.

The Moscow International Frederick Chopin Competition for Young Pianists is open to students aged 17 or under. The contestants play piano pieces only composed by Chopin and, notably, are evaluated through a collaborative performance with a symphony

orchestra in the final round of the competition.

Hyuk Lee began to display an extraordinary talent for the piano and the violin when he was just three years old, and has been under the mentorship of Yang-suk Lee, chief of the music department at Sunhwa Arts School, since 2007.

He has steadily gained recognition for his talent by winning a string of domestic competitions, including the 2011 Korea Steinway Piano Competition.

Previously, the brothers Dong-min Im and Dong Hyuk Im, who were considered piano prodigies, won the top and second prizes, respectively, at the Second Moscow International Frederick Chopin Competition for Young Pianists in 2006, while Hyo-ju Lee, a female

performer, and Seong-jin Cho, a male, won the Grand Prize in 2000 and 2008, respectively.

The Doosan Group Yonkang Foundation has supported Hyuk Lee with benefit of scholarship in recognition of his musical talent. The Foundation will continue to support Lee until he finishes college.

[Photo caption]
Chairman Y.H. Park of the Doosan Group Yonkang Foundation offering words of encouragement, saying, “Nurture your dream without reservation, and develop yourself into a great musician,” while presenting Hyuk Lee with a certificate of scholarship (last April)

Yonkang Foundation Scholarship Beneficiary Wins at a Prestigious International Competition