Chinese violinist Chaowen Luo took home the KRW30,000,000 (£16,400) first prize
The finals of the IsangYun Violin Competition took place in Tongyeong, South Korea, on 9 November. The four finalists performed concertos with the Tongyeong Festival Orchestra, conducted by Christoph Poppen. The KRW30,000,000 (£16,400) first prize was awarded to Chaowen Luo from China. He performed the Brahms Violin Concerto.
The KRW20,000,000 (£11,100) second prize went the South Korean violinist Eunjoong Park, who performed the Beethoven Violin Concerto. He also won the Unesco City of Music Special Prize. Jake Dongyoung Shim from South Korea received the KRW10,000,000 (£5,500) third prize and the Isang Yun Special Prize. He performed Isang Yun’s Violin Concerto no.3. Japanese violinist Rino Yoshimoto, who performed the Brahms Violin Concerto, won the KRW5,000,000 (£2,700) fourth prize. The Seong-Yawng Park Special Prize, awarded to an exceptionally talented Korean participant, went to semi-finalist Seoyeon Baik.
The winners’ concert, where all finalists performed, took place on 10 November.
Chaowen Luo began playing the violin at the age of seven, and went on to study at the Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing with Wang Hong, Zhang Jia and Tong Weidong. He has performed internationally at the Tchaikovsky Conservatoire in Russia, the European String Festival in Spain, and in Japan where he participated in the Seiji Ozawa Music Academy.
Other competition experience includes participating in the Sibelius Violin Competition, reaching the semi-finals of the Premio Paganini International Violin Competition, winning third prize at the International Tchaikovsky Music Competition, and winning the 2023 Chinese Music Golden Bell Award Violin Competition.
This year’s jury was chaired by Mihaela Martin and comprised Christian Altenburger, Martin Beaver, Michiko Kamiya, Ida Kavafian, Hyuna Kim, Sung-Ju Lee, Douglas Sheldon and Weidon Tong.
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