Contestant

Shinyoung Lee, born in 1997, began studying piano at the age of five. From 2009 to 2012, she trained under Prof. Jaemi Kim at the Young Musicians Academy of Konkuk University, supported by a scholarship from the city of Seoul. During the same period (2010–2012), she attended the Sunhwa Arts Middle School with the support of the Sunhwa Piano Society.
Shinyoung has earned numerous prestigious international accolades throughout her career. In 2023, she won 1st Prize and the Audience Prize at the Campillos International Piano Competition. She was also awarded 2nd Prize at the Madrid International Piano Competition, where 1st Prize was not given. Additional achievements include 1st Prizes in Germany’s Jugend Musiziert competition, the “Die Jungen Besten im Norden” of the Usedomer Music Festival, and the International Piano Competition “Città di Treviso.” She also received a special prize for the best interpretation of an Estonian composition at the Tallinn International Piano Competition, among other distinctions. Shinyoung has participated in masterclasses with world-renowned pianists, including Prof. Arnulf von Arnim, Prof. Matthias Kirschnereit, Prof. Jacques Rouvier, Prof. Elisso Virsaladze, Prof. Bernd Goetzke, and Maria João Pires. A sought-after chamber musician and collaborative pianist, she has performed at festivals such as the EUFONIA Festival (Timișoara, Romania), the Schönberger Musiksommer, the Karwendel Music Festival (Mittenwald, Germany), and the Gezeitenkonzerte (Ostfriesland, Germany). As a soloist, Shinyoung has toured extensively across Europe. In April 2019, she performed at the Mariinsky Theater Concert Hall in St. Petersburg and has appeared as a soloist with orchestras including the Málaga Symphony Orchestra, the Cyprus Symphony Orchestra, and the Norddeutsche Philharmonie Rostock. In 2016, she gave two concerts broadcast on NDR Radio in Hamburg as part of the “Podiums of Young Artists” and “Northern Germany’s Young Artists” programs.
From 2014 to 2019, Shinyoung studied with Prof. Matthias Kirschnereit at the Rostock University of Music and Theater. She is currently studying the postgraduate course, Excellence in Performance, at the University of Music and Performing Arts Munich with Prof. Antti Siirala. Additionally, she studies the Diploma in Music Performance program at the Reina Sofía School of Music in Madrid with Prof. Milana Chernyavska and Prof. Claudio Martínez Mehner.
Shinyoung has been awarded scholarships from prestigious institutions, including the Horst-Rahe Foundation, the Yehudi Menuhin Foundation’s “Live Music Now” program, and the International Music Academy Liechtenstein.