By Lee Hyo-won
Staff reporter
Two young Koreans won prizes in the piano section of the prestigious Queen Elisabeth competition in Belgium on May 29.
Kim Tae-hyung, 25, finished fifth, taking home 10,000 euros as well as the Brussels Capital Region prize, while Kim Da-sol, 21, tailed him with the sixth prize (7,000 euros) and City of Brussels prize.
A total of 12 Koreans vied for the top awards this year and three other rising local pianists ― Kim Kyu-yeon (25, New England Conservatory), Park Jong-hai (20, Korea National University of Arts) and Sunwoo Yekwon (21, Curtis Institute of Music) ― were named laureates in the prestigious event. Each will receive 4,000 euros and recital opportunities.
The Queen Elisabeth has three sections, for the piano, violin and vocals, and takes place in Brussels every three years. The piano section in particular is ranked among the world’s toughest keyboard events alongside the Chopin and Tchaikovsky.
Fifth prizewinner Kim Tae-hyung debuted in 2001 as a Young Artist of the Kumho Asiana Cultural Foundation and in 2004 became the first ever Korean to top the City of Porto International Music Competition. In 2008 he won both the Interlaken Classics International Piano Competition in Berne and the Grand Prix Animato in Paris. Last year in Seoul he appeared alongside maestro Paik Kun-woo and three other noted young pianists for an unprecedented four-piano performance. After studying with Kang Choong-mo at the Korea National University of Arts, Kim is now working toward a degree at the Hochscule fur Musik und Theater in Munich.
Kim Da-sol studied at the Pusan Graduate School of Arts before continuing his work at the Hoschule fur Musik und Theater in Leipzig. He has championed numerous international music events including first prize in Nagoya, Japan (2005), second prize at the Isang Yun event in Tongyeong, South Gyeongsang Province (2006), first prize in the International Chopin Competition in Asia (2006) and third prize at both the Robert Schumann and Genevea competitions (2008).
Meanwhile, Russia’s Denis Kozhukhin won the first prize at the Queen Elisabeth this year. Evgeny Bozhanov, the Bulgarian ``enfant terrible’’ who was a finalist at the 13th Van Cliburn competition, ranked second and Hannes Minnar, from the Netherlands, finished third. Russia’s Yuri Favorin won the fourth prize.