Winners Announced at 2024 ISANGYUN Violin Competition

Presented by the Tongyeong International Music Foundation since 2003, the ISANGYUN Competition is named for the renowned Korean composer Isang Yun (1917-1995) and supports emerging international soloists and cultural exchange among nations. The competition alternates between violin, cello, and piano editions each year.

Held from November 2–10, 2024, in the Tongyeong Concert Hall in South Korea, this year's edition was for violinists aged 15 to 30. You can watch the Final Round of the competition here on The Violin Channel.

First Prize and KRW 30,000,000 (~21,500 USD) went to Chaowen Luo. Eunjoong Park won second prize with KRW 20,000,000 (~14,300 USD) and Jake Dongyoung Shim received KRW 10,000,000(~7,100 USD).

Chaired by Mihaela Martin, the 2024 jury comprises Christian Altenburger, Martin Beaver, Michiko Kamiya, Ida Kavafian, Hyuna Kim, Sung-Ju Lee, Douglas Sheldon, and Weidong Tong.

Opportunities for the first prize winner include a performance at the Orchestra Festival hosted by the Seoul Arts Center, Music in PyeongChang hosted by the Gangwon Art & Culture Foundation, and the DMZ OPEN Festival. Winners will also perform solo with the Busan Philharmonic Orchestra and the Gwangju Symphony Orchestra.

Chaowen Luo started studying violin at age 7 with Xiao Sishan. Later, he studied with Prof. Huang Chenxing, Prof. Wang Hong, and Zhang Jia, which was followed by undergraduate study with Prof. Tong Weidong at the Central Conservatory of Music.

Luo has won third prize at the Tchaikovsky International Competition 2023, the Jade Medal at the China International Violin Competition 2023, and second prize at the Qingdao International Violin Competition.

In 2017, he performed with Master Vengerov in Qingdao. A year later, he was selected to participate in Seiji Ozawa Music Juku and toured in Japan. In 2019, he went to Spain to participate in the European String Festival as the concertmaster.