Guillermo Hernández Barrocal (left), age 18 (Spain) — Second Prize Senior Division
Yurim Kim (right), age 17 (South Korea) — Third Prize Senior Division & Audience Prize
ClevelandClassical.com: Congratulations to you both.
Both: Thank you. Thank you very much.
CC.com: It was a pleasure to hear both of you. How did you deal with nerves throughout the competition? (They spar over who should go first.)
Guillermo Hernández Barrocal: Well, first of all, I’m very focused on practicing. So if you’re focused and you have clear goals, you know what you’re doing, it makes things easier We also had a wonderful atmosphere at Hazel — the dorm. We were all living together. We were having meals together, sharing music, learning from one another. We have 24-hour cabins with pianos we can play whenever we want. Then we can talk, we can relax. I like to take very long walks. Helps me think.