Decca Classics has announced the signing of Yunchan Lim, the South Korean star pianist and youngest ever winner of the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition in Texas.
Then just 18 years old, Yunchan’s final performance of Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto No. 3 skyrocketed on YouTube last year, trending at No.24 globally and garnering over 12 million views, making it the most-watched rendition of the work on the platform.
Lim has performed on renowned stages including the David Geffen Hall at the Lincoln Center, the Hollywood Bowl, London’s Wigmore Hall, and has his upcoming Carnegie Hall debut, as well as performances with the Boston Symphony Orchestra, Orchestre De Paris alongside label-mate Klaus Mäkelä and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra with music director Vasily Petrenko.
After releasing his first post-competition work, a live recording album of Beethoven’s Emperor Concerto with the Gwangju Symphony Orchestra on Universal Music Korea, Lim is set to release his debut Decca album in spring 2024.
“Decca is home to the legacies of some of the greatest pianists on record, from Arrau and Ashkenazy to Brendel, Backhaus and Uchida,” said Decca Classic’s label director Dominic Fyfe and executive producer Helen Rogers. “With Yunchan we begin a new chapter, one which looks back to that golden age of pianism but which also promises to set a gold standard for the future. We are privileged that Yunchan has chosen to make his home with Decca Classics and look forward to a long and storied relationship.”
Lim said: “Decca has produced records with excellent sound quality, and has worked with numerous legendary musicians. It's a record label that one can truly appreciate as a musician.”
Decca co-president Tom Lewis added: “Yunchan is, quite simply, the most exciting new classical artist on the planet. It took a global mission to secure his signature and bring him to Decca Classics. Tickets to his concerts already sell out in seconds, such is the level of excitement around him. He is a once-in-a-generation talent and we are so excited that he chose us.”
PHOTO: James Hole
