Oboist Ma Seongye and Cellist Kim Taeyeon Win Awards at International Competition

3rd Place at Marsongye Marcknoikirchen International Instrumental Competition
1st Place at Kim Taeyeon Witold Lutosławski Cello Competition

On the 13th, Kumho Cultural Foundation announced that oboist Ma Sung-ye (26), a Kumho Young Artist alumnus, won 3rd place at the 59th Markneukirchen International Instrumental Competition held on the 10th local time, and cellist Kim Tae-yeon (18), also a Kumho Young Artist alumnus, won 1st place and the Lutosławski 'Grave' Best Performance Award at the 12th Witold Lutosławski International Cello Competition held on the 11th.

The Markneukirchen International Instrumental Competition is held in Markneukirchen, Saxony, Germany, famous for instrument making. It aims to support the growth of young musicians and attract global attention to Markneukirchen's instrument-making tradition. It began as a violin competition in 1950 and has been held annually since 1966 for two instrument categories. Notable Korean winners include Kumho Young Artist alumnus Sung Min-je (double bass, 3rd place without 2nd in 2011), Kumho Rising Star alumnus Park Kyung-min (viola, joint 3rd in 2013), Kumho Young Artist alumnus Kim Woo-yeon (clarinet, 3rd in 2014), Kim Se-jun (viola, 3rd in 2017), and Kumho Young Artist alumnus Lee Young-kwang (cello, 1st in 2019).

Oboist Ma Sung-ye
Photo by Kumho Cultural Foundation

The 2024 competition was held for oboe and trombone categories. The oboe category, held for the first time in 14 years since 2010, had 50 oboists in the finals, including 11 Koreans. Through three rounds of finals from the 3rd to the 8th, the final three finalists, including Ma Sung-ye, were selected. They performed Richard Strauss's Oboe Concerto with the Vogtland Philharmonic Orchestra Greiz/Reichenbach on the final stage held on the 10th at Markneukirchen Musikhalle. Ma Sung-ye received 3rd place prize money of 3,500 euros (about 5.12 million KRW). 1st place went to Raquel Perez-Juana Rodriguez (Spain), and 2nd place to Jo?o Silva (Portugal).

Oboist Ma Sung-ye debuted in 2013 with the Kumho Young Artist Concert. She has won top prizes at prestigious competitions such as 1st place at the Cologne University of Music Competition and 2nd place at the International Double Reed Society (IDRS) Young Artist International Oboe Competition. Ma served as an intern with the SWR Symphony Orchestra and a member of the Lucerne Festival Academy in 2022, and was a member of the Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra in the 22/23 season. She has also performed as a guest member with the WDR Symphony Orchestra and NDR Hanover Philharmonic Orchestra. She graduated at the top of her class from Yewon School, entered Seoul Arts High School as the overall top student, studied under Mok Wan-su and Yoon Ji-won in Korea, and studied with Christian Wetzel at the Cologne University of Music. She is currently studying under Kai Frommgen at the Hanover University of Music, Drama and Media.

The Witold Lutosławski International Cello Competition was established in 1997 to nurture young cellists through the works of Polish composer Lutosławski and is held every three years in Warsaw. Notable past winners include Park No-eul (4th in 1997, 3rd in 1999), Julian Steckel (1st in 2003), Kumho Young Artist alumnus Lim Hee-young (3rd in 2011), and Ueno Michiaki (2nd in 2018).

Cellist Kim Taeyeon
[Photo by Kumho Cultural Foundation]

The 2024 competition was open to cellists under 30 years old. Through preliminary video screening, 44 cellists participated in the finals, and five finalists including Kim Tae-yeon were selected through the first and second rounds held from the 1st to the 8th. Kim Tae-yeon won 1st place by performing Lutosławski's Cello Concerto and Haydn's Cello Concerto with the Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra (conducted by Marek Mo?) on the final stage held on the 10th and 11th at the Warsaw National Philharmonic Concert Hall. Along with the championship, Kim received the Best Performance Award for Lutosławski's 'Grave' from the first round and a total prize of 21,000 euros (about 31.04 million KRW). 2nd place went to Maria Leszczynska-Thieu (Poland), and 3rd place to Antoni Wrona (Poland).

Cellist Kim Tae-yeon debuted in 2020 with the Kumho Young Artist Concert. She has won numerous domestic and international awards including 1st place at the Gustav Mahler Prize Cello Competition, 1st place at the Antonio Janigro International Cello Competition, 2nd place in the strings category at the Osaka International Music Competition, 2nd place at the Young Tchaikovsky International Competition, gold at the Dong-A Junior Competition, 3rd place at the Ewha Kyunghyang Music Competition, and gold at the Hankook Ilbo Competition. She has performed with the Sibelius Orchestra (Finland), Saint Petersburg City Philharmonic Orchestra (Russia), Novosibirsk Youth Orchestra (Russia), and Gimpo Philharmonic Orchestra. Kim graduated top of her class at Yewon School, receiving the Excellence in Performance Award for three consecutive years, and was admitted to the Curtis Institute of Music at age 14, where she is currently enrolled. She studied under Lee Si-ok and is currently studying with Gary Hoffman and Peter Wiley.

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