By Lee Hyo-won
Up-and-coming pianists Cho Seong-jin and Son Yeol-eum are among 11 South Koreans set to compete in the upcoming International Tchaikovsky Competition, organizers announced Tuesday.
A total of 122 musicians, aged between 16 and 32, from 29 countries, will compete in four sections ― piano, violin, cello and vocals. The 14th edition of the event will be held between June 14 and July 2 in Moscow and St. Petersburg. Held every four years, the competition is considered among the most prestigious in the world.
Three of 30 pianists are local artists including Cho, winner of the 14th Moscow Chopin Competition; Son, silver medalist of the 13th Van Cliburn Competition; and Park Jong-hai.
Jang Yoo-jin, Lee Je-hye and Marisol Lee are three of 27 youngsters in the violin section. Two Koreans, Jang Woo-lee and Kang Seung-min, are among 25 cellists in competition. Two of 20 female vocalists, Seo Sun-young and Yoon Jung-nan, are Korean, while Korean Park Jong-min is among 20 males. Korean laureates of the competition include Maestro Chung Myung-whun, who won second prize in the 1974 piano section.
Twenty-five winners will share cash prizes amounting to about 300,000 euros and will be entitled to concert engagements in Europe, Asia and the United States. Leading arts management companies will represent laureates; the Moscow Philharmonic Society in Russia, Intermusica in Asia and Europe, and Opus3 in the U.S.
Jury members for the Russian event include Maestro Vladimir Ashkenazy, a laureate of the competition, and violinist Anne-Sophie Mutter. Maestro Valery Gergiev is this year’s competition chairman. Richard Rodzinski, known for his work for the Van Cliburn Competition (named after the American pianist who won the 1958 Tchaikovsky event), was appointed as the head of the competition’s organizing committee.
“I was extremely pleased to learn from our screening jurors how excited they were to have heard the many wonderful talents they have selected to participate in the competition,” Gergiev was quoted as saying in a press release. "They achieved remarkable consensus in their choice of the most outstanding musicians."
For more information about the Tchaikovsky Competition, visit www.tchaikovsky-competition.com.