Lee’s 'Stuff #1' took first prize and every special award, while Lim’s live 'Goldberg Variations' topped Apple’s chart for 16 weeks
Pianist Lim Yunchan and composer Lee Hanurij, close friends and two of Korean classical music's brightest young names, collected major international honors within hours of each other this week.
Lee, 20, won first prize in the composition category of the 80th Geneva International Music Competition on Wednesday, local time, with his orchestral work "Stuff #1." He also took all six special prizes in the category, including the audience prize, the young audience prize and the students' prize, according to the Sejong Center for the Performing Arts, where he is a resident composer for the Seoul Metropolitan Traditional Orchestra.
Hours later, Apple Music Classical named Lim's "Bach: Goldberg Variations - Live at Carnegie Hall" its classical album of the year 2026.
The two go back years. Lee was 14 when Lim, two years older, first performed one of his pieces.
When Lim brought the Goldberg Variations to the Tongyeong International Music Festival in March 2025, he opened the recital with "...Round and velvety-smooth blend...," a five-minute piece he had commissioned from Lee. Lim said at the time it "would be meaningful to pair Goldberg Variations, a monumental piece by one of the greatest composers in human history, with a work by a promising contemporary composer."
Four months later, Lim and his teacher Sohn Minsoo performed Lee's arrangement of a suite from Richard Strauss' "Der Rosenkavalier" in their first duo recitals. Lim has called his friend a musician chosen by God.
Founded in 1939, the Geneva competition has launched more than 800 musicians. This year's edition revived the conducting category for the first time since 1994 and, for the first time in its history, merged the composition final with the first round of the conducting final.
Each of the three conducting finalists drew lots to lead one of the three finalist works, all orchestral pieces of 12 to 16 minutes written since March 2024. "Stuff #1" was performed at Victoria Hall by the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande under 23-year-old German conductor Mats Thiersch.
The top prize carries 15,000 Swiss francs ($18,000). Brazil's Rafael Marino Arcaro took second place and Hong Kong's Sing-Yat Chen third. The three finalists were chosen from a record 188 applicants from 46 countries. In a statement released through the competition, Lee thanked Chin and the rest of the jury and said the contest stands out for giving composers a collaborative setting in which to develop their work.
A student at the Korea National University of Arts, Lee won Hungary's Bartok World Composition Competition in November 2024.
Lim's award reflects both critical and popular reception. Chosen by Apple Music Classical's editors from all albums released in 2026, the Goldberg recording spent 16 weeks at No. 1 on the platform's Top 100 global chart and 39 weeks in its top 10. Lim's "Chopin: Etudes" was the platform's most-streamed classical album of 2024.
Released by Decca Classics in February, the album captures Lim's live performance of the work at New York's Carnegie Hall. Lim first heard the Goldberg Variations at age 8 on a Glenn Gould recording, according to Apple. He called recording the piece live at Carnegie Hall a lifelong dream, adding that the response was the greatest gift a musician could hope for.
To mark the award, Apple Music Classical is releasing an exclusive deluxe edition with Lim's commentary and bonus audio and video content. An exclusive Classical Session recorded at Apple's new Battersea studio in London will follow in early 2027.
gypark@heraldcorp.com
