Jeonghwan Kim wins 1st prize in the Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy Conservatory Competition
In a spectacular conclusion to the Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy Conservatory Competition 2022, the pianist and Eisler student Jeonghwan Kim won the first prize in the piano category. The competition was held this year in the categories piano and composition, the Konzerthausorchester Berlin played under the direction of Leslie Suganandarajah. In addition to the Mendelssohn Prize (1st prize), which is endowed with 4,000 euros, he also received the prize of the Friends of Young Musicians Germany, also endowed with 4,000 euros.
Jeonghwan Kim has been connected to the Eisler since 2011 through the Bach Gymnasium. As a young student he was taught by Thomas Just until 2016 and then by Prof. Konrad Maria Engel. Since 2020 he has been studying in the class of Prof. Engel. Jeonghwan Kim is a versatile pianist and composer. Born in Seoul in 2000, he received his first piano lessons at the age of six. He won numerous first prizes at national level competitions and entered the Seoul Arts Center Academy for Young Talented Musicians at the age of nine. He has lived in Berlin since 2011. He took part in master classes with Jakob Leuschner, Bob Versteegh and Robert Levin.
In 2017 he won third prize at the International FRANZ LISZT Piano Competition for Young Pianists in Weimar and received two special prizes - for the best interpretation of a sonata by Ludwig van Beethoven and a piece by Béla Bartók. In 2019 he won first prize at the prestigious Aarhus International Piano Competition For Young Pianists and was immediately invited to perform with the Aarhus and Odense Symphony Orchestras.