South Korean wins Cliburn piano competition

FORT WORTH, Texas – South Korean Yekwon Sunwoo has won the 15th Van Cliburn International Piano Competition, 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 in the competition held every four years in Fort Worth. It was founded in 1962 by the Cliburn, the famed pianist who died in 2013.

Sunwoo is the first South Korean to win.

The Fort Worth Star-Telegram reports (http://bit.ly/2rjGsZ0 ) 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, from San Francisco, finished third.

___

Information from: Fort Worth Star-Telegram, http://www.star-telegram.com