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South Korean pianist Cho Seong-jin during his last performance at the 17th International Chopin Piano Competition in Warsaw

Pianist Cho Seong-jin, 21, has become the first South Korean to win the world‘s most prestigious Chopin piano competition.

On Oct. 21, the Fryderyk Chopin Institute announced that Cho Seong-jin had taken first place in the final round of the 17th International Chopin Piano Competition, which was held in Warsaw, Poland, between Oct. 18 and Oct. 20.

Along with the International Tchaikovsky Competition in Russia and the Queen Elisabeth Competition in Belgium, the Chopin competition, which is held once every five years for pianists only, is regarded as one of the world’s top three music competitions.

The victory effectively means that the world recognizes Cho as another Chopin specialist who will follow in the footsteps of distinguished pianists and previous competition winners such as Martha Argerich and Krystian Zimerman.

Along with 30,000 Euros for winning first place and 3,000 Euros for the best performance of a polonaise, Cho will receive opportunities to perform around the world.

“When they called my name, I was dumbstruck,” Cho said immediately after the winners were announced. “I can’t believe that I won at this competition that I’ve been dreaming of since I was a kid. I‘m already worried about preparing for future performances.”

After beginning to play piano at the age of six, Cho was tutored by Shin Su-jeong, professor emeritus at Seoul National University’s conservatory of music, and Park Suk-ryeon, professor at Suncheon National University.

Debuting at the age of 11 at the Kumho Young Talent Concert, Cho became the youngest person to win the International Chopin Youth Competition in 2008 and the Hamamatsu International Piano Competition in 2009.

In 2011, Cho won third place at the International Tchaikovsky Competition, and last year he came in third at the Arthur Rubinstein International Piano Master Competition.

By Son Jun-hyun, staff reporter

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