Following the final round of the Thomas and Evon Cooper International Piano Competition with Jahja Ling and The Cleveland Orchestra at Severance Hall on Friday evening, the judges announced the first, second, and third-place winners. Prizes were awarded by Thomas and Evon Cooper.
First prize of $20,000 went to Tony Yun, (left, 17) of Toronto, Canada, who played Tchaikovsky’s first concerto. Kai-Min Chang (17) of Changhua County, Taiwan, took home the second prize of $10,000, and Yunchan Lim (14) of Siheung-si, Gyeonggi-do, South Korea was awarded the third prize of $5,000. Chang and Lim had played Chopin’s first and second concertos with the Orchestra.
Earlier, Yun and Lim had tied for the Audience Award following the Recital Round at Oberlin, which gave each of them an additional prize of $500. All three winners also received full-tuition scholarships to the Oberlin Conservatory.