Korea’s first piano winner dies at 83

Winner of the 1965 Leventritt Competition at Carnegie Hall, with Leonard Bernstein on the jury, Han Tong-il was the first Korean to come top in any international piano contest.

Son of a timpanist in the Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra, Han Tong-il was helped by a US general in the Korean war to obtain a scholarship to Juilliard. After winning the Leventritt, he settled quietly in the US, teaching at Indiana University, Illinois State, University of North Texas and Boston University.

In 2019, he returned to Korea. Funeral rites will be held in Seoul from Wednesday to Friday.

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