Korean classical music artists continue to dominate elite international music competitions, with three budding Kumho Art Hall pianists snagging the top three spots at this year’s 68th annual Prague Spring International Music Competition held in the Czech Republic capital last week.

Local piano prodigy Park Jin-hyung, 20, took home the crown in the competition's piano category Saturday, while his fellow Kumho artists Kim Jun-ho and Han Kyu-ho won the second and third place prizes, respectively. Han shared his spot on the podium with Marek Kozak, from the Czech Republic. 

Sixty-two pianists from 16 countries competed in this year’s weeklong competitions with 20-year-old Park being the youngest competitor. Park will also receive roughly 9.84 million won ($8,390) in prize money and an invitation to perform at the Prague spring festival next year.

The second and third place winners will receive cash prizes of about 4.92 million won and 2.46 million won, respectively.  


The historic Prague Spring International Music Competition -- a member of the World Federation of International Music Competitions in Geneva -- holds music competitions focusing on two instruments a year. This year’s competitions were focused on piano and trumpet.

Last year’s event featured flute and clarinet competitions and also saw Koreans at the top of the podium, with flutists Kim Yoo-bin and Cho Sung-hyun awarded first and second, respectively.

Also last week, Kumho violinists Song Ji-won and Lee Jae-hyeong competed in the 9th International Violin Competition Leopold Mozart in Augsburg, Germany.

Song, 24, won first place and received a prize of 15.9 million won, while Lee landed in third, awarding her roughly 6.6 million won. Lee also went on to win the competition’s Youth Jury Prize, adding another 1.9 million won in prize money.

By Julie Jackson (juliejackson@heraldcorp.com)