Pianist Jin-Hyung Park Wins Joint Second Place at Arthur Rubinstein Competition

Kumho Young Artist alumnus and pianist Jin-Hyung Park (30) won joint second place at the 18th Arthur Rubinstein International Piano Master Competition, which concluded on September 8 (local time) in Tel Aviv, Israel, according to the Kumho Cultural Foundation. Park will receive a prize of 20,000 US dollars (approximately 26.83 million won).

This year's competition was open to pianists worldwide between 18 and 32 years old. After the preliminary rounds, 39 pianists advanced to the main round. The first and second rounds took place from April 28 to May 4. Although the finals were originally scheduled for May, due to the ongoing war situation in the Middle East, the finals were postponed by about four months. The six finalists performed in three rounds from September 3 to 8. The final round consisted of a classical concerto with an orchestra, a chamber music performance, and a second concerto performance.

Pianist Jin Hyung Park. Kumho Cultural Foundation (c) Yoel Levy

Dmitry Yudin from Russia claimed first place. Jin-Hyung Park shared second place with Uladzislau Khandohi from Belarus, while Roman Fediurko from Ukraine took third place.

This year, the jury was chaired by Arie Vardi and included 12 world-renowned pianists such as Soo-Jung Shin from Korea, Martha Argerich, Daniel Barenboim, Pavel Gililov, and Yefim Bronfman.

Jin-Hyung Park remarked, "I am happy to have achieved such a good result at a competition that lasted longer than any before and feel a sense of liberation after this five-month journey. I would also like to sincerely thank everyone who supported me during my preparation for the competition."

The Arthur Rubinstein International Piano Master Competition was established in 1974 with the mission of honoring the musical spirit of Arthur Rubinstein (1887–1982), one of the iconic pianists of the 20th century, and discovering young talent. Held every three years, its prominent past winners include Emanuel Ax, Gerhard Oppitz, Kirill Gerstein, Alexander Korsantia, Igor Levit, Khatia Buniatishvili, Boris Giltburg, and Daniil Trifonov.

Among Koreans, Jongkyung Park secured third place in 1998. Fellow Kumho Young Artist alumni Yeol Eum Son and Seong Jin Cho also won third place in 2005 and 2014, respectively.

Born in 1996, Jin-Hyung Park became the first Korean to win the piano category at the Prague Spring International Music Competition in 2016. He went on to win at the 2023 Premio Jaén International Piano Competition, the M.K. Ciurlionis International Piano and Organ Competition, and the 2025 Morocco Philharmonic Orchestra International Music Competition.

Park made his debut in 2009 at the Kumho Young Artist Concert, and performed at the Kumho Young Artist Concerts in 2015 and 2017. He studied under Youngwook Yoo at Yewon School, Seoul Arts High School, and Yonsei University, and completed his master's degree with Arie Vardi at the Hochschule für Musik, Theater und Medien Hannover in Germany.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.