“The Seoul International Music Competition, presented by LG, Is holding its 5th competition for the category of Violin

The 5th Seoul International Music Competition will be held in Seoul, Korea from April 15th to April 26th, 2009 at Recital Hall and Concert Hall of Seoul Arts Center.

Seoul International Music Competition was established by the Dong-A Ilbo, the most prestigious daily newspaper in Korea, for the sake of promoting cultural exchanges among nations through music, and supporting talented young musicians from all over the world. The Competition is held annually for one category out of piano, violin and voice each year. The first competition in 1996 for the category of piano and the second competition in 1997 for the category of violin were held in Seoul, with the title of "Dong-A International Music Competition." After ten years of absence, the 3rd competition was resumed in Seoul in 2007 for the vocal category with the new title of "Seoul International Music Competition." And, the 3rd competition in 2007 and 4th competition in 2008 for the category of piano were held successfully.

To the prize winners, the competition offers the world-class awards such as prize money of US $50,000 for the 1st prize winner, making CD recordings with NAXOS label, performance engagements with major orchestras throughout the world, recital engagements, etc.

For this competition, world famous violinists, Pierre AMOYAL (France), James BUSWELL (USA), Rodney FRIEND (Great Britain), Eduard GRACH (Russia), Ulf HOELSCHER (Germany), HU Nai-Yuan (Taiwan), KANG Dong Suk (Korea), KIM Nam Yoon (Korea), KIM Young Uck (Korea), Konstanty KULKA (Poland) and SHIMIZU Takashi (Japan), are invited to the competition as Jury Members. We encourage you to show sincere interest in our competition which will invite violinists aspiring to make their way onto the global stage.

▶First, Second, Semifinal and Final Stages:
April 15th to April 26th, 2009
Seoul Arts Center, Seoul, Korea
▶Application deadline: November 14th, 2008
▶Category: Violin (Voice in 2010, Piano in 2011)
▶Contact: The Secretariat of Seoul International Music Competition
Website: http://www.seoulcompetition.com/ / seoulcompetition@donga.com
Tel: 82-2-2020-0736, 0540 Fax: 82-2-2020-1639

Announcement on result of final round for the 4th Seoul International Music Competition

Result of Final round for the 4th Seoul International Music competition organized by Seoul Metropolitan Government and Dong-A Ilbo was announced.
The Final Round of the competition was held on 26th and 27th of April at Concert Hall in Seoul Arts Center and those 6 finalists were LIM Hyo Sun (Korea), Mariya KIM (Ukraine), Mariana PRJEVALSKAIA (Spain), KIM Tae Hyung (Korea), Alexej GORLACH (Ukraine) and Eric ZUBER (USA). The result for those prize winners are as follows.

1st Prize Mariya KIM(Ukraine) Certificate and Prize Cash US$50,000
2nd Prize Alexej GORLACH(Ukraine) Certificate and Prize Cash US$30,000
3rd Prize KIM Tae Hyung(Korea) Certificate and Prize Cash US$20,000
4th Prize Eric ZUBER(USA) Certificate and Prize Cash US$8,500
LIM Hyo Sun(Korea) Certificate and Prize Cash US$8,500
5th Prize not awarded
6th Prize Mariana PRJEVALSKAIA(Spain) Certificate and Prize Cash US$5,000

The competition prepares world-class awards in cash prizes as well as performance engagements with major orchestras throughout the world, recital engagements and CD recordings for the great winners of the competition. As for the 1st prize winner, International Recording Label Naxos will provide an excellent opportunity to produce own albums on CDs in studios such as Germany, England, Canada and Hungary and distribute to 65 countries worldwide.

This year’s Seoul International Music Competition called in SHIN Soo Jung (Korea), LEE Kyung Sook (Korea), KANG Choog Mo (Korea), Nojima Minoru (Japan), Heinz Medjimorec (Austria), Dominique Merlet (France), Andrea Bonatta (Italy), Paul Schenly (USA), Xu Zhong (China), Karl-Heinz Kämmerling (Germany) and Piotr Paleczy (Poland) among total number of eleven pianists and professors of a world authority as jurors on the competition jury. Following the result announcement, Jin Gu RA Vice mayor from Seoul Metropolitan, Chairman Hak Joon KIM from Donga Ilbo and Representative Eui Joon KIM from LG Art Center attended the Award Ceremony as award giver.

Press Conference for The 4th Seoul International Music Competition, presented by LG

Time: 3pm ~ 5pm, Friday 18th April, 2008,
Venue: Gookwha Room 19thF, Press Center, Taepyongno-1-Ga, Jung-Gu, Seoul

Press Conference for 4th Seoul International Music Competition of Piano Category will be held with an honor of presence of jury members and General Manager Kai Czepiczka from Naxos Korea. For this year’s competition, 35 most outstanding young musicians from 13 countries world wide will gather to compete on stage.

Following the successful opening of Voice category in previous year, Seoul International Music Competition will be held from 15th April ~ 27th April in Seoul Arts Center again, this year. For the 4th Seoul International Music Competition, 145 musicians from 26 nationalities world wide had applied, and 35 applicants of 13 nationalities were selected consisting of 10 domestic applicants and 25 applicants from overseas for preliminary round.

As an initial International music competition in Korea, prominent musicians such as Baik Joo Young (Violin, Faculty, Seoul National University), Kong Byung Woo (Voice, Korea), Aviram REICHERT (Faculty, College of Music, Grand Valley State University, USA), Liviu PRUNARU (Violin, Maestro for Royal Concert Hevo Orchestra) along with other talented musicians were discovered whom are actively pursuing successful career, currently on international stages in the musical world.

This year’s Seoul International Music Competition called in some of the world’s greatest musicians such as KANG Choog Mo (Faculty, The School of Music, The Korean National University of Arts), Nojima Minoru (Japan), Heinz Medjimorec (Austria), Dominique Merlet (France), Andrea Bonatta (Italy), Paul Schenly (USA), Xu Zhong (China), SHIN Soo Jung (Former Dean, College of Music, Seoul National University), LEE Kyung Sook (Faculty, College of Music, Yonsei University), Karl-Heinz Kämmerling (Germany) and Piotr Paleczy (Poland) among total number of eleven pianists and professors of a world authority as jurors on the competition jury.


The competition prepares world-class awards in cash prizes as well as performance engagements with major orchestras throughout the world, recital engagements and CD recordings for the great winners of the competition. As for the 1st prize winner, International Recording Label Naxos will provide an excellent opportunity to produce own albums on CDs and distribute to 65 countries worldwide.

The 3rd Seoul International Music Competition – Final Summary

The 3rd Seoul International Music Competition was organized by Seoul Metropolitan Government and Dong-A Ilbo and was sponsored by LG. The Dong-A International Music Competition was discontinued due to IMF situation in Korea. This year it was revived in 10 years with a new name, Seoul International Music Competition.

In this year’s competition, 139 applicants from 30 countries applied and 49 applicants from 15 countries passed the preliminary round. A total of 39 competitors from 14 countries competed for 1st Stage. Twenty-four competitors made it to the 2nd Stage and 14 competitors went onto the Semifinal. In the Semifinal a total of six competitors were announced as finalist.

The 1st, 2nd and Semifinal stages were held in Recital Hall of Seoul Arts Center, and the Final Stage was held in Concert Hall of Seoul Arts Center.

The six finalists each sang 7 – 8 art songs in the first Final Stage on 6th December and in the second Final Stage on 7th December, each sang one operatic aria with Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Seung Han Choi.

The nine jury members of the competition include Mr. Philip Kang (Chairman of the Jury Committee), Ms. Eugenia Anvelt, Ms. Jane Berbié, Ms. Siegfried Jerusalem, Ms.Bok-Joo Jeong, Young-Mi Kim, Guy Montavon, Christina Scheppelmann, and Cheryl Studer.

The winners of the competition are the following.

1st Prize : KONG Byung Woo(Baritone, Korea)
2nd Prize : HWANG Byoung Nam(Tenor, Korea)
3rd Prize : Gerardo GARCIACANO(Baritone, Mexico)
Joint Winners 4th Prize : KIM Joo Taek(Baritone, Korea)
Danielle TALAMANTES(Soprano, USA)
6th Prize : LEE Eung Kwang(Baritone, Korea)

The 3rd Seoul International Music Competition was played online from the 1st Stage till the Final Stage through donga.com. Ye-dang Art TV (cable TV channel), a supporting organization for the competition, will be playing the interviews of the jury members and competitors, and performances of the competition in a documentary form. The Final Stages of the competition were recorded and will be also played by the Yedang Art TV. Moreover, TBS radio station will be playing recorded interviews with the finalists and jury members.