Why Korea’s Young Classical Musicians Are Thriving at International Competitions
Kim Moonkyoung
Patent attorney and music columnist
Young Korean musicians are rapidly growing in prominence at prestigious classical music competitions worldwide. Korean names are announced with great fanfare at the International Chopin Piano Competition, Queen Elisabeth Competition, and Van Cliburn International Piano Competition, events in which Korean winners were almost unthinkable in the past. Classical music is the “traditional music” of Europe. For Asians, such competitions are similar to standing before a wall to comprehend and then deliver the spirit of music left behind by Caucasian Europeans who lived anywhere between 100 and 350 years ago. That Korean musicians are increasingly honored in international arenas, despite the color barrier, is as unusual as a foreign contestant in Korea winning a pansori (Korean lyrical opera) or trot music contest.
Among the many Korean winners of international competitions, the most impressive may be Cho Seong-Jin, who placed first in the 17th International Chopin Piano Competition in 2015. In 2005, Lim Dong-min and his younger brother, Dong-hyeok, won third prize at the same competition, which had no runner-up that year. It was unimagineable, however, that a Korean would take the top honor. The Chopin competition is one of the most unique events of its kind, because it is solely devoted to the works of one person: Frédéric Chopin. Cho demonstrated impeccable technique throughout his performance, expressing the character of Chopin’s music in ways that were neither lacking nor excessive. He previously won third prize at the age of 17 at the International Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow in 2011, with Son Yeol Eum taking second.
Today, finding a Korean name among the winners of Italy’s Ferruccio Busoni International Piano Competition is an easy task. In 2015, Mun Ji-yeong won first prize: in 2021, Park Jae Hong took first place, with Kim Do-Hyun taking second. The Van Cliburn competition, named after the American pianist, also has a special relationship with Korea. In 2009, Nobuyuki Tsujii of Japan and Haochen Zhang of China shared the top prize, while Son Yeol Eum took second, leading to the deion of the competition as a “China-Japan-Korea summit.” In 2017, Sunwoo Yekwon won first place: in 2022, Lim Yunchan became the event's youngest gold winner at 18. Lim exhibited superhuman endurance by playing Lizst’s “Transcendental Etudes,” often dubbed the “piano triathlon,” for one hour. His rendition of Rachmaninov’s “Piano Concerto No. 3” in the finals indicated that he is fast-evolving into a maestro: for Lim, the competition was actually a “coronation” of sorts.
This year, there was an unprecedented frequency of Korean victories at international competitions. Violinist Yang Inmo won first at the International Jean Sibelius Violin Competition in Helsinki, while cellist Choi Hayoung topped the Queen Elisabeth Competition in Brussels. At the ARD International Music Competition in Munich, which is well-known for its range of instruments, flutist Kim Yubeen won first prize.
What, then, is it that explains the emergence of young Korean musicians in leading positions in classical music competitions and the subsequent creation of a “K-classical music generation” in a realm once monopolized by Europeans? Attribution of these acclaimed performances cannot be limited to Koreans’ achievement-driven mentality and the strenuous efforts made to gain such outcomes. Art is different from sports, which depends largely on numerical (score or place) records; the former demands a high level of artistic and emotional sensitivity and a skillfulness of expression. The system of developing gifted talent that is fully backed by government support may also have contributed to this trend. Ultimately, Korea's young musicians have begun to express themselves as independent artists who are capable of much more than the acquisition of artistic skills required for competitions. In the past, students relied on their teachers to learn how to play: today, on the other hand, is an era of ubiquitous learning in which anyone can access performances of prominent musicians on their smartphones without being limited by time or place. Amid the smart, information-inundated environment of the 21st century, classical musicians in Korea seem to have reached a summit that cannot be approached through solely intense competition and sacrifice. The questions that remain are whether the brilliance of their achievements abroad can continue without interruption, and how we can support them.
한국국제교류재단
