The Van Cliburn International Piano Competition is widely considered one of the most prestigious contests in classical music.
The new documentary “Crescendo,” playing at Park City Film Dec. 12, captured the music and behind the scenes footage of the 2022 competition.
The movie is the directorial debut for Heather Wilk, a Park City area filmmaker who has previously worked in documentary film.
Wilk said the prize of winning the competition, which takes place every four years, is life-changing.
“They win $100,000 cash, but more importantly, they get management and booking deals,” Wilk said. “As an example, the winner, his name is Yunchan Lim, he is now 20 years old, but was 18 years old when he won, competing against 30 and 31 year olds. And he is playing places like the Hollywood Bowl, Lincoln Center, with the New York Philharmonic... 100% built off of this."
“Crescendo” has drawn large audiences in Lim’s home of South Korea.
“They’re calling Yunchan the BTS of classical music,” Wilk said. “He has quite the following here, and especially in Korea. So we premiered the film about a year ago in South Korea to sold out audiences. We have quickly become the number one documentary of the last five years in Korea, strictly so they can see Yunchan. He’s a very mysterious and I would say quiet competitor, and we got to meet him before all this craziness happened to him and his life.”
Wilk said they recently signed a contract with a U.S. distributor and said the film will get a wide release likely sometime next year.
The documentary is showing at the Jim Santy Auditorium at the Park City Library Thursday, Dec. 12 at 7 p.m. Tickets are free and can be found here.
Wilk will be joined by Jason Hardink from the Utah Symphony for a post-film Q&A.
