Jaemin Han at the top of the Isang Yun Competition

Han wins with an outstanding performance of the Yun Concerto

With its final on 6 November, 2022, two days after the anniversary of the passing of namesake composer Isang Yun, this year’s ISANGYUN Competition ended with a stellar all-Korean cast of winners. 

First Prize Winner Jaemin Han has extensively performed outside of Korea already: he recently won First Prize at the 2021 George Enescu International Competition and Third Prize at the 2021 Geneva Competition, being the youngest winner of them all.

Han started playing the cello at the age of five and made his debut three years later in his hometown with the Wonju City Symphony Orchestra. A former student of Myung-Wha Chung, he is currently studying with Kangho Lee and Tsuyoshi Tsutsumi at the Korea National Institute for the Gifted in Arts.

Highlights for the upcoming season include a tour of Korea with the Orchestre Philharmonique du Luxembourg under the baton of Gustavo Gimeno, his New Zealand debut with the Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra and Shi-yeon Sung, and a recital at the Tongyeong International Music Festival.

The International ISANGYUN Competition has been presented by the Tongyeong International Music Foundation since 2003. It is held in remembrance of Isang Yun(1917~1995), the renowned Korean composer, by promoting cultural exchanges among nations through music, and by supporting talented young musicians from all over the world.
The Competition is held annually in November, alternating between the disciplines Piano, Violin and Violoncello.

2017, the music world celebrated the 100th anniversary of lsang Yun, one of the foremost composers of the 20th century. Born in Tongyeong in 1917, he created bridges between Asian and Western cultures like no other. His style comes to life with the flexible, lively sounds of Korean traditional music; however by working with twelvetone-techique and other musical means of the Western avant-garde, he also has his firm place in the European tradition.

Winning First prize in 2022, it is especially meaningful that cellist Jaemin Han performed not one of the standard repertoire pieces such as Dvorak or Schumann, but decided to do one of Isang Yun´s most important works: his cello concerto. Written in 1976, it is extremely demanding to play (Han broke his C-String 3 times during the competition final- another first!). Composer Yun was a cellist himself, and the work bears autographical sketches. It was premiered by Yun´s friend, cellist Siegfried Palm in 1976 and has recently seen a revival with a number of performances and recordings.