Koo Jaha, Chin Unsuk take top global honors

Korean theater-maker Koo Jaha and composer Chin Unsuk each won major international arts prizes this week, across two separate fields and on two different continents.

Koo, 42, was named the recipient of the International Ibsen Award 2026 on March 20, becoming the first artist of Asian descent — and the youngest person ever — to receive the prize. Awarded biennially by Norway, the Ibsen Award is widely regarded as one of the most prestigious theater awards and carries a prize of 2.5 million Norwegian kroner ($256,000).

Koo, who was born in South Korea and has been based in Ghent, Belgium since 2011, works at the intersection of theater, music, video and technology. His jury citation praised "his innovative and deeply human theater."

The theater he creates is quiet, yet deeply political. It cuts through ideological noise and speaks directly to our shared human experience," said Ingrid Lorentzen, chair of the jury for the International Ibsen Award and artistic director of the Norwegian National Ballet.

Koo is best known for "The Hamartia Trilogy" (2014-2020), and his most recent work, "Haribo Kimchi" (2024), which features a robotic eel and a pojangmacha — outdoor carts in Korea that sell street food — on stage. The award ceremony will take place at the National Theatre in Oslo on Sept. 26.

"I see this prize not only as a recognition of my own work, but also of all artists who move beyond what is traditionally considered theater, and who create works for people who may not previously have felt addressed," Koo said in a statement.

In the same week, renowned composer Chin Unsuk was named laureate of the BBVA Foundation Frontiers of Knowledge Award in the music and opera category. The Madrid-based BBVA Foundation, which administers the prize jointly with Spain's National Research Council, cited Chin's "exceptional instrumental mastery and expressive power," her singular musical language and technique and the success of her opera "The Dark Side of the Moon," which premiered last year.

The Frontiers of Knowledge Award, established in 2008, spans eight fields from basic sciences to the humanities, and has produced 34 Nobel laureates among its recipients. Past music laureates include Pierre Boulez, Steve Reich, Arvo Part and George Benjamin. The prize carries an award of 400,000 euros ($463,000). The ceremony will be held on June 18 at the Euskalduna Bilbao Center in Bilbao, Spain, preceded by a gala concert.

Seoul-born and Berlin-based, Chin has spent decades building a body of work grounded in philosophical and scientific concepts, drawing equally from surrealist literature and visual art.

Chin previously was the first Asian recipient of the Ernst von Siemens Music Prize in 2024, and has served as artistic director of the Tongyeong International Music Festival in South Gyeongsang Province since 2022.