Violinist Lim Hyun-jae won the first prize at the 2026 Elmar Oliveira International Violin Competition (EOIVC) held in Florida on Sunday (local time), marking a major milestone in her comeback after a yearslong hiatus following a car accident. The 28-year-old Korean national clinched the top honor with a performance of Jean Sibelius Violin Concerto in D minor, accompanied by the Lynn University Philharmonia Orchestra, according to the competition's website. Video footage posted by the competition shows Lim performing in a wheelchair. As the winner, Lim received $30,000 in prize money, along with an additional $2,000 in special awards. She will also be offered performance opportunities over the next three years on international stages, including in New York, Boston and Italy. Lim moved to the United States at the age of 7 and later graduated from the Curtis Institute of Music, emerging as a promising young talent in the international classical music scene. Her career was abruptly interrupted in May 2020 when she was involved in a traffic accident while in Korea, forcing her to stop playin