South Korea's Sunwoo wins Cliburn piano competition

South Korea’s Sunwoo wins Cliburn piano competition

Yekwon Sunwoo of South Korea performs with conductor Leonard Slatkin and the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra on Friday evening in the final round of the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition held in Fort Worth, Texas. | Ralph Lauer/The Cliburn

FORT WORTH, Texas — South Korea’s Yekwon Sunwoo has won the 15th Van Cliburn International Piano Competition, which is one of the top showcases for the world’s best pianists.

The 28-year-old Sunwoo emerged from 30 competitors to claim the $50,000 award and a gold medal Saturday. The competition is held every four years in Fort Worth, where Cliburn lived. The contest was founded in the famed pianist’s honor in 1962. He died in 2013.

Sunwoo is the first South Korean to win.

The competition began May 25 with pianists from 12 countries and Hong Kong. In the finals round, each of six finalists performed with a string quartet and then with the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra.

American Kenneth Broberg, a Minneapolis native, was second. Another American, Daniel Hsu, of San Francisco, finished third.

RELATED: Northwestern pianist vies with world’s best at Van Cliburn competition

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