NEC Preparatory School Student Saehyun Kim Wins First Prize at Cleveland International Piano Competition for Young Artists
NEC Preparatory School student Saehyun Kim of Seoul, South Korea took first place in the Senior Division of the Cleveland International Piano Competition (CIPC) for Young Artists, winning a $10,000 prize. The 16-year-old also won the Audience Prize and Junior Jury Prize, each worth $500.
Saehyun was one of 16 contestants in the prestigious competition's Senior Division for ages 15-18. During the final round, he competed against two other finalists, performing movements from Brahms' "Piano Trio No. 1 in B major, Op. 8" and Chopin's "Concerto No. 1 in E minor, Op. 11."
The Finalists of the CIPC for Young Artists are among the most skilled individuals in their age group, and gathered in Cleveland from countries around the globe.
Saehyun studies at NEC Prep with HaeSun Paik, co-chair of the College’s piano department and Prep faculty member, and is a Young Scholar of the Lang Lang International Music Foundation and a junior at Walnut Hill School for the Arts.
“I am ecstatic about the result and Saehyun's well-deserved achievement,”
said HaeSun.
“He is already an artist with phenomenal talent and a brilliant mind, which is served by uncompromising self discipline—a rare combination! I can't wait to see how he will develop further in the future.”
In 2022, Saehyun won First Prize at both the Morningside Music Bridge International Concerto Competition and the NEC Prep Concerto Competition. In his first-ever international competition, the 2019 International Tchaikovsky Online Piano Competition for Young Musicians, he won Second Prize as the youngest finalist. Additionally, he won First Prize at both the 2021 New York International Classical Music Competition and the 2018 Ewha & Kyunghyang Music Concours, the most prestigious young artist music competition in Korea.
"I enjoyed every moment on stage, and I was filled with joy from being a messenger of the great composers in the past,"
said Saehyun.
"The warm and passionate reaction from the audience after the final note will remain in my heart for the longest time."