Winner of the Leventritt Competition in 1965, Han became first Korean musician to gain international recognition

Pianist Han Tong-il (Secretariat of the Seoul International Music Competition)
Pianist Han Tong-il (Secretariat of the Seoul International Music Competition)

Han Tong-il, the South Korean piano prodigy who was the 1965 winner of the prestigious Leventritt Competition in New York, now discontinued, died Sunday at the age of 83.

Born in 1941 in Hamhung, South Hamgyong Province, now in North Korea, Han moved with his family -- led by his father, a timpanist -- to Seoul in 1946. After the 1950-53 Korean War, he left for New York in June 1954 to attend the Juilliard School.

Han was accompanied by Gen. Samuel E. Anderson, then a US Air Force commander in South Korea, who recognized Han’s potential and had arranged tours at US bases in Korea and Japan to raise funds for his training at Juilliard. Han earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in music from 1954-1968, on scholarship.

In 1956, the US-trained pianist performed with the New York Philharmonic, and in 1958 went on an East Asia tour. Four years later, he performed at the White House at the invitation of US President John F. Kennedy.

In October 1965, Han became the first Korean to gain international recognition as the winner of the Leventritt Competition -- a highly prestigious international competition for classical pianists and violinists that was founded in New York in 1939.

In recognition of his achievement, the Korean government awarded Han the second-highest recognition in the five-tier Order of Civil Merit in 1973, an honor given to Koreans and foreign nationals alike for advancing the country’s interests.

From 1969, Han taught at Indiana University in the US and went on to teach at several other US universities, including the University of North Texas and Boston University.

From 2005 to 2007, Han served as dean of the College of Music at the University of Ulsan in Korea. He stayed there for two more years as a chaired professor, a position he also held at Suncheon National University in South Jeolla Province.

He returned permanently to Korea in 2018 and applied to have his Korean citizenship restored, which was granted the following year.

“I’ve been given more than I can give back to the community,” Han said in a 2008 interview with a local outlet. “‘Think small, be humble and love others’ are what I hold dear to my heart.”


siyoungchoi@heraldcorp.com