Chinese Violinist Chao Won Luo Wins Youn Yisang International Music Competition

KOR Park Eun-jung and Shim Dong-young Take 2nd and 3rd Place

Chinese violinist Chao Yuan Luo won the 2024 Yun Isang International Music Competition.

The Tongyeong International Music Foundation announced on the 9th that in the final held at the Tongyeong International Music Hall Concert Hall, following Chao Yuan Luo, Korea's Park Eunjoong and Shim Dongyoung took 2nd and 3rd place respectively, and Japan's Rino Yoshimoto took 4th place. Park Eunjoong received the UNESCO Creative Cities of Music Special Award through audience voting, and Shim Dongyoung received the Yun Isang Special Award. The Yun Isang Special Award is given to the participant who interprets Yun Isang's 1992 work, "Violin Concerto No. 3," most excellently in the final. The Park Sungyong Gifted Special Award, given to a promising Korean performer, was awarded to Baek Seoyeon, who advanced to the second preliminary round.

Winners of the 2024 Yoon Isang International Music Competition. From left to right: Sim Dong-young, Park Eun-jung, Chao Yuan Luo, Rino Yoshimoto, Baek Seo-yeon.
Photo by Tongyeong International Music Foundation

The 2024 Yun Isang International Music Competition began on November 2 with 140 performers from 26 countries participating. After a preliminary screening, 24 participants competed in the first round on November 3-4, 9 participants advanced to the second round on November 6-7, and 4 participated in the final round. The finalists performed Yun Isang's Violin Concerto No. 3, Beethoven's Violin Concerto, and Brahms' Violin Concerto in collaboration with the Tongyeong Festival Orchestra (TFO), conducted by Christoph Poppen.

Chao Yuan Luo, who took first place, said, "I deeply thank the audience who joined us here, and I also express my gratitude to my parents, teachers, judges, and friends who supported me. It was enjoyable to meet other participants here, and my time in Tongyeong was very special."

Mihaela Martin, the jury chair of the 2024 Yun Isang International Music Competition, said, "It was a great honor to listen to the performances of young and talented musicians during the competition. I deeply applaud the dedication and efforts of all participants and wish them success and good fortune in their future musical journeys." She added, "I was also greatly impressed not only by the outstanding skills of the participants but also by the meticulous and efficient event management by the organizers."

The Yun Isang International Music Competition is the first domestic competition to join the World Federation of International Music Competitions (WFIMC) and is held annually in rotation among cello, piano, and violin categories. The 2025 Yun Isang International Music Competition will feature the cello category.

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