October 22, 2015 10:42
Korean prodigy Cho Seong-jin won one of the world's most prestigious piano competitions on Tuesday.
Cho, who currently studies at the Conservatoire de Paris, won the International Fryderyk Chopin Piano Competition in Warsaw, Poland, becoming the first Korean ever to do so. He received a gold medal and earned 30,000 euros in prize money.
The competition was started in 1927 in honor of Polish composer Fryderyk Chopin (1810-1849), and is held every five years at his hometown in Warsaw. He also took the Fryderyk Chopin Society Prize for best performance of a polonaise.
Cho is the third Asian ever to win the competition after Đặng Thái Sơn of Vietnam in 1980 and Li Yundi of China in 2000. "I can't believe I won the competition that I've dreamed of participating in since I was little," Cho said after the competition.
Cho's triumph is considered as the biggest achievement by a Korean since Chung Myung-whun took second place at the International Tchaikovsky Competition 41 years ago.
Canada's Charles Richard-Hamelin took second place, and Kate Liu of the U.S. took third.
Throughout the competition which lasted for three days, Cho played 38 pieces in five rounds. His performances will be released on CD next month by German classical record label Deutsche Grammophon.
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