After 15 years of study, she’s set to compete

At 19, Joyce Yang has already won several national piano competitions in her native South Korea, performed with orchestras across America and studied at Juilliard the last eight years.

It’s impressive, but as the youngest of 35 competitors in the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition, Yang knows she still has something to prove.

“I just think the judges and the audience might expect something less from me because I’m the youngest, but once I get on stage, age doesn’t matter,” said Yang, who started playing piano at age 4 and moved to the U.S. when she was 10.

The competition that launches classical music careers started Friday and runs through June 5 in Fort Worth. Contestants from 13 countries will vie for monetary awards and international tours. The gold medal winner’s prizes are worth more than $500,000 in cash and performance fees.