Korean violinist Hyunjae Lim won first prize worth USD50,000
The final round of the 2025 Seoul International Music Competition took place on 10 December 2025 at the Seoul Arts Center Concert Hall, where six violinists performed a concerto from a prescribed list with orchestra.
Korean violinist Hyunjae Lim took first prize of USD50,000 with her performance of the Sibelius Violin Concerto, while Moldovan violinist Lilia Pocitari and US violinist Yeson Sophie Lee won second and third prizes of USD30,000 and USD20,000 respectively.
Ukrainian violinist Oleksii Tyshchenko won fourth prize of USD10,000, US violinist Jason Moon won fifth prize of USD7,000 and Korean violinist Haewon Yoon won USD5,000.
Born in 1997, Lim has won prizes at numerous competitions, including fifth and Bach prize at the 2015 Singapore International Violin Competition, first prize at the 2017 Albert M. Greenfield Competition, third prize at the 2018 Menuhin Competition and second prize at the Ima Hogg Competition.
She participated in the 2019 Queen Elisabeth Competition in Brussels and reached the semi-finals of the 2025 Sibelius Competition in Helsinki.
Currently studying at the Curtis Institute of Music, her teachers include Midori, Shmuel Ashkenasi and Arnold Steinhardt. She has performed as a soloist with the Philadelphia Orchestra, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and the Houston Symphony.
The jury was chaired by Mi-kyung Lee and comprises Ju-Young Baek, Martin Beaver, Ronald Copes, Wei He, Masafumi Hori, Dong Suk Kang, Dene Olding, Marco Rizzi and Ulf Wallin.
The Seoul International Music Competition is held annually in rotating disciplines of violin, piano and voice. The previous violin edition was held in 2022 and was won by Korean violinist Dong Min Lim.
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