Lim Hyun Jae on Jan. 18 won three honors at this year's Elmar Oliveira International Violin Competition in Boca Raton, Florida. (Event's official Instagram account) 

By Aislyu Akhmetzianova

Lim Hyun Jae, 28, on Jan. 18 won first prize at the Elmar Oliveira International Violin Competition (EOIVC) in Boca Raton, Florida.

The event's official website said the wheelchair-bound Lim on the competition's final day won over the judges with her performance of Sibelius' Violin Concerto in D Minor, Op. 47 with the Lynn University Philharmonia.

Lim also won two more awards at the competition: best performance of the EOIVC-commissioned work "Wood-Sprite" by composer-in-residence Melinda Wagner and best performance of a Ysaye solo sonata.

The virtuoso has endured personal turmoil over the past few years. As a promising musician, she graduated from the prestigious Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia but injuries sustained in a car accident in May 2020 interrupted her career for over four years.

After undergoing six major surgeries and rehabilitation, she resumed practicing in June 2024 and made a triumphant comeback by last month by winning the Seoul International Music Competition.

Held every three years, the competition was founded in 2017 by American violinist Elmar Oliveira, winner of the Tchaikovsky International Competition in 1978, to help young talent ages 18-30 "with networking, management, public relations, community engagement and concert opportunities in addition to a monetary prize."

aisylu@korea.kr