Pianist Youl Sun takes the stage in Salt Lake City Friday night, bringing a program of Debussy, Liszt, Gabriela Lena Frank and Texu Kim to a city that first crowned him a champion two years ago. The 2024 Gold Medalist of the Gina Bachauer International Artists Competition is making his return as part of the Bachauer concert series, arriving fresh off a milestone performance thousands of miles away.
According to Salt Lake County Arts & Culture, Youl Sun in Concert is scheduled for Friday, November 6, 2026, presented by the Gina Bachauer International Piano Foundation. The listing gives a run time of 105 minutes including a 15-minute intermission, and notes the show is recommended for ages 8 and up, with infants not admitted. Tickets for the performance went on sale back on July 12, 2026, at 10 a.m., per the same listing.
The concert venue is the Jeanné Wagner Theatre at the Rose Wagner Performing Arts Center: Salt Lake County's listing places the show there, and The Utah Review reports Sun will perform at 7:30 p.m. Fans may want to double-check their tickets before heading downtown.
A Program Built Toward Liszt's Towering Études
The evening's repertoire moves from contemporary voices into Romantic-era fireworks. The Gina Bachauer International Piano Foundation describes the program as music by Gabriela Lena Frank and Texu Kim that builds toward Debussy's colorful Images and Liszt's monumental Transcendental Études. It's a demanding set, pairing newer compositions against two towering pillars of the piano repertoire.
Sun's Bachauer win in 2024 wasn't a narrow victory. He claimed the Gold Medal along with the Audience Choice Prize and the Student Jury Prize, according to the foundation. That same year, he also took First Prize at the Seoul International Music Competition. More recently, in 2026, he added Second Prize and the Best Performance of a 20th-Century Work Award at the Ljubljana Festival Piano Competition, the foundation's site notes.
From a 333-Candidate Field to Carnegie Hall
Sun's path to Bachauer gold ran through a crowded field. The Korea National University of Arts reports that the 2024 competition began with 333 candidates representing 40 different countries. His gold medal win came with a reported $50,000 cash award, a commemorative gold medal, a concert engagement in New York City, a concerto engagement with the Utah Symphony, additional concert bookings, and a Bachauer CD recording of selected repertory, per the university's announcement.
That New York engagement appears to be paying off on a fast timeline. The Utah Review reported that Sun's Salt Lake City performance comes eight days after his Carnegie Hall debut in New York City. Sun has also performed with orchestras including the Minnesota Orchestra, the Utah Symphony, and the KBS Symphony Orchestra, according to the Bachauer foundation.
A Busy Utah Swing Before the Main Event
Friday's concert capped a packed few days in Utah for the pianist. Utah State University's Wassermann Piano Series listed Sun for a 7:30 p.m. recital on Nov. 3 in the Russell/Wanlass Performance Hall, according to Utah State University. The same listing says Sun also presented a public masterclass on Nov. 2, giving Utah audiences and students multiple chances to see him before the Salt Lake City show.
The appearance fits into a broader pattern for the Bachauer foundation's laureate concerts, which regularly bring past competition winners back through Utah. The foundation's listing for Gold Medalist Lori Sims, for instance, features a program of Bach, Ligeti, and Sofia Gubaidulina, per Salt Lake County Arts & Culture. Elsewhere on the foundation's calendar, 2024 Bachauer Bronze Medalist Wynona Wang opened the 2025/26 season with a program centered on dreams, memory, and longing; Wang has performed with the Utah Symphony and at venues including Carnegie Hall, according to the foundation. As FOX 13 News Utah reports, Sun is returning to perform at the Rose Wagner Theatre.
