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Jongmin Park wins Song prize in Cardiff Singer of the World

Jongmin Park
Jongmin Park (photo: BBC / Brian Tarr)

Congratulations to Jongmin Park for winning the Song Prize in the BBC Cardiff Singer of the World 2015. The competition ran from 14 to 21 June. Park wins prize money of £7,500. The main prize (and £15,000) was won by Nadine Koutcher from Belarus.

Of the twenty competitors, three were from South Korea. Two of them included art songs by Korean composers in their recitals.

Below are the singers’ details, taken from the BBC website. All photographs by Brian Tarr.

Jongmin Park

Bass from South Korea, 28 years old
Wildcard finalist, Song Prize winner
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/profiles/GvYh81RLHKnksbv7xRHQ7w/jongmin-park

Jongmin Park
Jongmin Park (photo: BBC / Brian Tarr)

I was born in Seoul and studied singing at the Korea National University of Arts.

I joined the Academy of La Scala where I was guided by Mirella Freni, Luciana Serra, Luigi Alva and Renato Bruson. Prizes I have won include the International Tchaikovsky Competition, and the Birgit Nilsson Wagner award at Operalia, both in 2011.

During the 2010-2013 season, I was a member of the ensemble at the Hamburg State Opera, singing roles such as Sarastro Die Zauberflöte, Colline La bohème and Sparafucile Rigoletto. The following season, I joined Vienna State Opera and performed Sir Giorgio I puritani, Gremin Eugene Onegin, Basilio Il barbiere di Siviglia, Bartolo Le nozze di Figaro, Grenvil La traviata and Truffaldino Ariadne auf Naxos.

In 2014, I debuted at the Royal Opera House as Colline, and appeared at the BBC Proms and the City of London Festival.

Concert engagements have included Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony with the LSO, Mozart’s Vesperae solennes de Confessore at La Scala, Verdi’s Requiem in Seoul and Rossini’s Stabat Mater in Tokyo. I have performed solo recitals in Munich and Frankfurt and will give one at the Musikverein in Vienna this year. Next year, I will perform Dvořák’s Stabat Mater in Prague.

I enjoy playing soccer and watching movies.

Repertoire

Main Prize Final

Verdi: Confutatis maledictis (Requiem)
Rossini: La calunnia (The Barber of Seville)
Ponchielli: Si, morir ella de!…Ombre di mia prosapia (La Gioconda)

Song Prize Final

Schubert: Wer sich der Einsamkeit ergibt (Gesänges des Harfners D478)
Schubert: Der Atlas (Schwanengesang No 8)
Schumann: Stille Tränen (Op 35 No 10)
Tosti: Ideale
Du-Nam Cho: Boat Song

Main prize Concert 1

Haydn: Nun scheint in vollem Glanze der Himmel (The Creation)
Tchaikovsky: Gremin’s aria (Eugene Onegin)
Verdi: Studia il passo…Come dal ciel precipita (Macbeth)

Song prize Recital 4

Soon-ae Kim: Because you are here
Ravel: Chanson romanesque (Don Quichotte à Dulchinée)
Ravel: Chanson épique (Don Quichotte à Dulchinée)
Ravel: Chanson à boire (Don Quichotte à Dulchinée)
Trad: Danny Boy

Insu Hwang

Baritone from South Korea, 32 years old
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/profiles/5m0X5QKfnyMb7zFxHHRxlZJ/insu-hwang

Insu Hwang
Insu Hwang (photo: BBC / Brian Tarr)

I was born in Seoul and studied at Yonsei University, then in Germany at the Hochschule für Musik, Karlsruhe with Donald Litaker and am currently at the Hochschule für Musik, Detmold with Susan Anthony.

I received a DAAD Scholarship in 2011 and a Brahmshaus Scholarship in 2012.

I have taken part in a number of competitions. I reached the final of the 2011 Queen Elizabeth competition and in 2013 won third prize and the Mozart special prize at the Veronica Dunne International singing competition, and 2nd prize at the Gut Immling international singing competition.

I have made numerous concert appearances with the Hof Symphony Orchestra in Bavaria, and solo recitals in Brussels and Karlsruhe. Opera roles include Guglielmo Così fan tutte and Count Le nozze di Figaro, both in Seoul; the title role in Falstaff in Karlsruhe; and Zar in Kurt Weill’s Der Zar lässt sich photografieren in Munich.

Currently I am a member of the Young Artist programme at the Landestheater Detmold, where I have performed the roles of Montano Otello, First Nazarene Salome and Sarastro Die Zauberflöte.

In my spare time, I like to keep fit and particularly enjoy swimming.

Repertoire

Main prize Concert 4

Wagner: Was duftet doch der Flieder (Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg)
Rossini: Là del ciel nell’arcano profondo (La Cenerentola)
Verdi: È sogno? o realtà (Falstaff)

Song prize Recital 3

Vaughan Williams: The Vagabond (Songs of Travel No 1)
Rachmaninov: Loneliness (Fragment from Alfred de Musset) Op 21 No 6
Duparc: Chanson triste
Wolf: Abschied (Mörike-Lieder No 53)
Dong-Soo Shin: Oh! Mountain

Jaeyoon Jung

Tenor from South Korea, 31 years old
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/profiles/2thvNXfjZ5MjZZ3DMdL3c3b/jaeyoon-jung

Jaeyoon Jung
Jaeyoon Jung (photo: BBC / Brian Tarr)

I was born in Gangneung and studied in Seoul and at the Teatro alla Scala Academy of Lyric Opera and Conservatorio di musica Giuseppe Verdi in Milan. Recent awards include first prize at the international singing competition Giacinto Prandelli in Brescia and first prize at the international singing competiton Giulietta Simionato, Acqui Terme, both in 2014.

Roles I have performed in Korea include Don Curzio Le nozze di Figaro and Eisenstein Die Fledermaus. Since moving to Italy, I have appeared as Edoardo di Sanval Un giorno di regno at Teatro Filarmonico di Verona and Dormont La scala di seta at La Scala, both in 2013.

Also at La Scala, I performed the tenor solo in the ballet La serata Ratmansky and also took part in various gala concerts at the theatre. Last year, I sang Il duca di Mantova Rigoletto in Castello di Padernello, Brescia. Concert work I have undertaken includes Beethoven’s C major Mass in Teatro comunale di Firenze in 2012 and a concert as part of the Year of Italian culture in Chicago in 2013.

Repertoire

Main prize Concert 2

Donizetti: Una furtiva lagrima (L’elisir d’amore)
R Strauss: Di rigori armato il seno (Der Rosenkavalier)
Puccini: Che gelida manina (La bohème)

Song Prize Recital 1

Sarti: Lungi dal caro bene
Landon Ronald: Prelude (A cycle of life)
Landon Ronald: Down in the forest (Spring) (A cycle of life)
Landon Ronald: Love I have won you (Summer) (A cycle of life)

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