Samsung Cultural Foundation Sponsors Instruments for Randel Goosby, Park Suye, Lee Haesu, and Han Jaemin

'2023 Samsung Music Fellowship' Awardees Selected
Free Rental of Prestigious String Instruments for Promising Young Performers

Violinists Park Su-ye (23) and Randel Goosby (26), violist Lee Hae-soo (23), and cellist Han Jae-min (17) will receive instrument sponsorship from Samsung.

Samsung Foundation of Culture sponsors instruments for Randall Goosby, Park Su-ye, Han Jae-min, and Lee Hae-soo (photo clockwise from top). Photo by Samsung Foundation of Culture

On the 12th, the Samsung Foundation of Culture announced these individuals as the newly selected recipients of this year's instrument sponsorship program, 'Samsung Music Fellowship.' Randel Goosby will play the 1708 Stradivarius 'ex-Strauss,' Park Su-ye the 1753 Giovanni Battista Guadagnini 'ex-Hamma,' Lee Hae-soo the 1590 'Gasparo da Sal?,' and Han Jae-min the 1697 'Giovanni Grancino,' each for up to five years.

Since 1997, Samsung has been lending world-renowned string instruments free of charge through this program to promising musicians who have not been able to fully demonstrate their outstanding artistic abilities due to the lack of suitable instruments for their performances.

Randel Goosby is a Korean-American musician born to a third-generation Korean-Japanese mother and an American father. In 2020, he signed an exclusive contract with the classical record label Decca, gaining recognition in the global music scene. This month, he will hold his first recital in Korea at the Lotte Concert Hall, showcasing his distinctive musical world to domestic music fans.

Park Su-ye debuted in 2017 at the age of 16 with the album 'Complete Paganini Caprices' through the prestigious Swedish record label BIS. Since then, she has released five solo and concerto albums, demonstrating a broad musical world spanning eras. She is expanding her discography through collaborations with conductor Osmo V?nsk? and works such as the Bart?k Violin Concerto.

Lee Hae-soo is a rising star who, in 2018, became the first Korean to win first place at the Primrose International Viola Competition in the United States at the age of 18. She is pursuing a master's degree under Tabea Zimmermann at the Berlin University of the Arts Hans Eisler. As a soloist and passionate chamber musician, she actively performs as a member of 'Curtis on Tour' and 'Musicians from Marlboro.'

Han Jae-min is the triple crown winner of the 2022 Isang Yun International Music Competition. He is expected to grow beyond a musical prodigy into Korea's next-generation cellist, having won the youngest-ever first prize at the 2021 Enescu International Competition and placing at the Geneva International Competition. He has signed an exclusive contract with the world-renowned classical management company KD Schmid and is embarking on his global career this year, starting with collaborations with the Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra and the Luxembourg Philharmonic Orchestra in the first half of the year.

The foundation selected these four based on their performance activities, recordings, and international competition achievements, through recommendations and verification by experts in various fields of the music industry, thoroughly reviewing their artistry, overall musical activities, and potential for development. In addition to the instruments, the foundation supports full insurance coverage and maintenance costs.

Previously, since starting instrument loans in 1997 to violinists Oh Joo-young (currently concertmaster of the Qatar Philharmonic Orchestra) and Catherine Sim (currently a member of the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra in the U.S.), the foundation has supported over 20 musicians including Baek Ju-young, Kim Ji-yeon, Shin Ji-ah, Clara Jumi Kang, Kim Sang-jin, Richard Yongjae O'Neill, Lee Hwa-yoon, Baek Na-young, Moon Tae-guk, and James Junhwan Kim.

Last year, the foundation expanded its support from soloists to chamber music by lending instruments to Kim Bom-sori, the first Korean female violinist to sign an exclusive contract with the classical record label Deutsche Grammophon (DG) (playing a 1725 Guarneri del Ges? ex-Moller violin), and cellist Lee Won-hae of the Novus Quartet (playing a 1715 Matteo Goffriller cello).

The instruments owned by the foundation include seven string instruments made between the late 16th and 18th centuries in Cremona, Milan, and other parts of Italy: the 'Stradivarius,' 'Guarneri del Ges?,' and 'Guadagnini' violins, which are considered the world's three greatest violins, as well as the 'Gasparo da Sal?' viola, 'Matteo Goffriller' and 'Giovanni Grancino' cellos, and the 'Luigi Mantovani' double bass.

Ryu Moon-hyung, CEO of the Samsung Foundation of Culture, said, "Through the instrument sponsorship program 'Samsung Music Fellowship,' we hope that musicians active on the global stage will communicate without boundaries through music and contribute to the development of our country's culture and arts. We expect the fellows selected this time to raise Korea's cultural status on domestic and international stages and grow into outstanding artists."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.