Competition preview: what to know before the IsangYun Violin Competition

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The 2024 edition of the IsangYun Competition is set to begin on Sunday 3 November in Tongyeong, South Korea. The competition is held annually, rotating between piano, cello and violin disciplines. This year’s competition is dedicated to the violin, with the 2025 competition to be dedicated to the cello.

23 violinists under the age of 30 from around the world have been selected for the first round, which will be held in groups of up to four competitors on Sunday 3 November and Monday 4 November. Each contestant will perform a solo recital of about 30 minutes, comprising the first and second movements of a Bach sonata, Königliches Thema by Isang Yun and two caprices from Paganini’s Op.1.

Ten violinists will progress to the second round, held from 3 to 7 November. They will perform a 45-50-minute recital with piano, comprising one complete sonata by Beethoven or Brahms, Gasa by Isang Yun, or any other composer’s work written after 1960 at least ten minutes in duration, plus a work of the contestant’s choice with piano.

The final round on 9 November will see the chosen violinists perform a standard violin concerto by Beethoven, Brahms, Mendelssohn, Sibelius or Tchaikovsky. Isang Yun’s 1992 Violin Concerto No. 3 is also on the list. They will be accompanied by the Tongyeong Festival Orchestra, conducted by Christoph Poppen at the Tonyeong Concert Hall. A winners’ concert will follow the final round on 10 November at the Bucheon Arts Center.

The violinists will perform for the chance to win awards from a prize pool totalling KRW79,000,000 (£44,000). First prize is worth KRW30,000,000 (£16,400), while the second-place winner will receive KRW20,000,000 (£11,100), third place KRW10,000,000 (£5,500) and fourth place KRW5,000,000 (£2,700).

The Isang Yun Special Prize of KRW10,000,000 will be awarded for the best interpretation of the composer’s Violin Concerto No. 3, while prizes of KRW2,000,000 (£1,100) each will be awarded for the Seong-Yawng Park Special Prize for the most talented young Korean participant, and the UNESCO City of Music Special Prize, awarded via votes from the audience.

The first prize winner will received the opportunity to perform at the Seoul Arts Center Orchestra Festival, Music in PyeongChang hosted by the Gangwon Art & Culture Foundation, and the DMZ OPEN Festival hosted by the Gyeonggi Tourism Organisation. Winners will be given opportunities to perform with the Busan Philharmonic Orchestra and the Gwangju Symphony Orchestra.

This year’s jury will be chaired by Mihaela Martin and comprises Christian Altenburger, Martin Beaver, Michiko Kamiya, Ida Kavafian, Hyuna Kim, Sung-Ju Lee, Douglas Sheldon and Weidon Tong.

The competitors are as follows:

Seoyeon Baik (South Korea, b.2007)

Alena Hove (US/Japan, b.1999)

Evan Johanson (US, b.1999)

Seunghyun Kang (South Korea, b.1998)

Lorenz Karls (Sweden/Austria, b.2001)

Eun Che Kim (South Korea, b.1997)

Antonia Maria Kreuzer (Germany, b.2007)

William Hsueh-hung Lee (Taiwan, b.1999)

Hao Li (China, b.1999)

Hyun Jae Lim (South Korea, b.1997)

Zixiang Lin (China, b.1999)

Chaowen Luo (China, b.2001)

Audrey Park (US, b.2002)

Eunjoong Park (South Korea, b.2001)

Zhiyuan Qian (China, b.2009)

Aoi Saito (Japan, b.1997)

Jake Dongyoung Shim (South Korea, b.2001)

Hannah Song (US, b.2000)

Amelia Sze (US, b.2001)

Ruiyi Wang (China, b.2002)

Jaewon Wee (South Korea, b.1999)

Raika Yamakage (Japan, b.1999)

Rino Yoshimoto (Japan, b.2003)

The IsangYun Competition has been presented by the Tongyeong International Music Foundation since 2003, commemorating Korean composer Isang Yun (1917-1995). The 2022 cello edition was won by Jaemin Han, while the 2021 violin edition was won by Karisa Chiu.