Kim Su-yeon became the first Korean pianist to win the first prize at the Concours Musical International de Montreal.

The list of winners for this year’s competition, held for the piano discipline, was unveiled Friday, with Kim announced as the first prize winner.

Kim will receive awards and scholarships valued at a total of over $180,000, along with a concert tour in three North American cities, a concerto performance with the Orchestre Symphonique de Montreal and a solo album recording on the Steinway & Sons label.

The second and third prizes went to Yoichiro Chiba of Japan and Dimitri Malignan of France, respectively.

A total of 225 pianists participated the virtual piano competition. Pianist Park Chae-young, who was among the eight finalists, failed to win a prize.

Kim began playing piano at age of 5. After studying at the Korean Institute for the Gifted in Arts at Korea National University of Arts, she has been studying at the Mozarteum University of Salzburg since 2013.

Kim is the first prize winner of the 2014 Johann Nepomuk Hummel International Piano Competition and the second prize winner at the 2018 Hastings International Piano Concerto Competition. She also took the third place at the 2018 Alaska International e-Piano Competition.

Though Kim is the first Korean pianist to win the Concours Musical International de Montreal, several Korean musicians have made their names at the event.

Violinists Cho Jin-ju and Choi Ye-eun won the first and the second prizes, respectively, in 2006, while tenor Kim Keon-woo and soprano Park Hye-sang won the first and the second prize, respectively, in 2006. Violinist Kim Bomsori took the second prize in 2016.

The Concours Musical International de Montreal is held annually and awards prizes in three disciplines -- voice, violin and piano -- alternately over a three-year cycle.

By Im Eun-byel (silverstar@heraldcorp.com)