Korean musicians such as PSY, BTS, and Black Pink are blowing fresh air into the global pop music market, dominating the top of the Billboard chart. Korean pop music has now become a strong trend called 'K-POP'.
Just as "K-POP" musicians are exerting great influence in the global music industry, have recently performed well in a series of prestigious internationa concours(competitions)
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| ▲pianist Lim Yun Chan / Courtesy of Tongyeong International Music Foundation |
When the international concours was held, Korean classical musicians won the championship with amazing skills, and world classical music critics began to call Korean classical music "K-Classical".
Following the sensation of "K-POP" in the global music market, "K-Classic" is showing off the hidden power of Korean musicians by creating a hurricane-like sensation in the world's classical music market.
Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert, Bach, Chopin, Brahms, and Handel are all western composers. However, a fairytale-like story is happening in reality that many young performers of Korea, a marginal country of the East, express their music the best in the world.
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| ▲cellist Choi Ha Young / Courtesy of Kumho Asiana Cultural Foundation |
Pianists Lim Yun Chan and Lee Hyuk, cellist Choi Ha Young, and violinist Yang In Mo are all new generations of Korean performers who have won this year's world-renowned concours, not just prizes.
Lim Yun Chan, an 18-year-old genius pianist, surprised the world's music scene by winning the 16th Van Cliburn International Piano Competition in the U.S. in June as the youngest.
The concours is called the world's top three music competitions along with Chopin and Queen Elizabeth. Lim even won the popularity award. His performance received very special attention, with him being selected as the "Top 10 Classic Performances of the Year" by the NYT.
Lim's rival, Korean genius pianist Lee Hyuk, tied for first place with Japanese Masaya Kamei in the piano section of the Longtivo International Competition at the Chateau Theatre in Paris last month. Lee won the Animato Competition in France last December.
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| ▲violinist Yang In Mo / Courtesy of Kumho Art Hall |
Cellist Choi Ha Young was the first Korean to rank first in the cello category at the Queen Elizabeth Competition in Bozar, Brussels, Belgium, in June. She is the youngest Korean-born genius cellist to win the Brahms International Competition a long time ago and have won the Kshishtov Penderetsky International Cello Competition.
The Queen Elizabeth Competition is considered one of the world's top three music competitions along with Poland's Chopin Piano Competition and Russia's Tchaikovsky Competition. The piano, cello, vocal music, and violin sections are held one year at a time.
Violinist Yang In Mo won the Jean-Sibelius International Violin Competition in May. The competition is an international violin contest named after the Finnish composer Sibelius (1865–1957), which is held every five years in Helsinki, Finland. Yang is the first Korean to win the competition.
As such, young Korean classical musicians are showing the amazing power of "K-Classic" by winning a world-class competition, a collaboration created by the combination of Koreans' extraordinary musical talent, nonstop efforts for the best, and the competitiveness of special gifted education only in Korea.
In fact, the new generation of Korean classical musicians spend 8 to 10 hours a day practicing. In response, Peter Cole, chairman of the International Competition World Federation, said, "Korea's gifted children do their best silently without any compromise."
So many classical music experts around the world predict that the "K-Classic" fever will not cool down quickly and will continue in the future. How many young Korean classical musicians will be able to win international competitions next year? The music industry around the world is watching the amazing growth of "K-Classic" with great interest.
Sayart.net(세이아트) Jack Lee wangjb77@gmail.com
