Pianist Shin Young-ho places second at Viotti after Dublin: “A rewarding result despite a short preparation period”

[Financial News] Shin Young-ho (19), a former Kumho Young Artist, placed second at the 76th Giovanni Battista Viotti International Music Competition.
According to the Kumho Cultural Foundation on the 19th, Shin placed second at the competition, which concluded in Vercelli, Italy, on the 17th (local time), and will receive prize money of 8,000 euros (approximately 12 million won).
The Giovanni Battista Viotti International Music Competition was established in 1950 to honor Viotti, an Italian composer and violinist. Until 2005, the piano and vocal categories were mostly held together; since 2006, the two categories have been held in alternating years. The violin category, which began in 1955, had been held only seven times in total through 2024.
This year’s competition was in the piano category, with young pianists from around the world who were under 32 taking part. Shin placed second after performing Sergei Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 3 in D minor, Op. 30. First place went to Xu Curtis Phil of the United States, and third place to the Russian-Armenian Maya Oganian.
Shin said, “I’m glad to have achieved a good result despite the short preparation period,” adding, “I will show how much I’ve grown, drawing on what I learned through the competition.”
Born in 2007, Shin made his debut with the 2021 Kumho Young Artist Concert. He drew attention in 2025 by placing second at the Dublin International Piano Competition as its youngest competitor, and that same year received a special prize at the Pancho Vladigerov International Piano Competition. Since October 2025, he has been pursuing a master’s degree at the École Normale de Musique de Paris under the guidance of Lena Tcherechevskaya.
Past Korean winners in the competition’s piano category include Lee Mi-ju (1985), Jung Eun-ju (1996), Kumho Young Artist alumnus Yeol Eum Son (2002), and Im Hyo-seon (2003). Winners in the vocal category include soprano Song Gwang-seon (1980) and Sumi Jo (1986), tenors Hong Seong-hun (2004) and Lee Jae-sik (2010), bass Jo Chan-hee (2016), and tenor Son Ji-hoon (2022). Violinist Kim Hyun-seo, also a Kumho Young Artist alumnus, placed second in the violin category in 2024.
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