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Woochan Jeong, 26, from South Korea has been awarded first prize at the Tokyo Minato City International Music Competition. The finals took place on the evening of 2 October at Tokyo’s Suntory Hall. All three finalists performed Haydn’s Cello Concerto no.2 and Elgar’s Cello Concerto.
Jeong wins YEN5,000,000 (£25,000) as well as a recital in Japan. He also received the audience prize worth YEN300,000 (£1,500). The YEN2,000,000 (£10,000) second prize was awarded to Spanish cellist Guillem Gràcia Soler, 19, while Korean-New Zealand cellist Yoonsoo Yeo won the YEN1,000,000 (£5,000) third prize.
Woochan Jeong is a graduate of the National University of Arts in Korea, where he studied under Kang-Ho Lee from 2016 to 2020. He than began his master’s degree at Berlin’s Hochschule für Musik Hanns Eisler with Troels Svane in 2021.
Jeong is a laureate of several major competitions. He won second prize at the 2014 International Tchaikovsky Competition for Young Musicians, first prize at the 2017 JoongAng competition, second prize at the 2018 KBS KEPCO Music Competition, and received an honourable mention at the Prague Spring International Music Competition. In 2022, he won second prize at the IsangYun Competition.
As a soloist, Jeong has performed with the Gyeonggi Philharmonic Orchestra, KBS Symphony Orchestra and Suwon Philharmonic Orchestra. He is a member of the Eden Quartet.
This edition’s jury was chaired by Shinozaki Maro Fuminori and comprised Peter Hörr, Massimo Macri, Matthijs Broersma, Seungmin Kang, Unno Mikio and Watanabe Genichi.
The TMCIMC takes place every year, alternating between violin, cello and piano.
AloJapan.com