South Korean tenor Kim Sung-ho became the Song Prize winner at the BBC Cardiff Singer of the World competition held at St David's Hall, Cardiff, on Thursday.
Kim, 32, took home the prize for his rendition of “Let Beauty Awake” by Ralph Vaughan Williams, “Mit Myrten und Rosen” by Schumann, “Do not sing, my beauty” by Rachmaninoff, “Morgen!” by Strauss and “Dongsimcho” by Kim Seong-tae. The winner of the BBC Cardiff Singer of the World Song Prize, given to singers of Lieder or art songs in the repertoire, is awarded 10,000 pounds ($1,300) and the Song Prize trophy.
The Main Prize of BBC Cardiff Singer of the World will be awarded to the winner of the final on Sunday night in which the five strongest singers are selected to compete.
In 2021, South Korean baritone Kim Gi-hoon was the winner of the top prize. The biennial competition has been held since 1983 when BBC Wales launched the competition to celebrate the opening of St David’s Hall in Cardiff, Wales, home of the BBC National Orchestra of Wales.
Born in Gwangmyeong, Gyeonggi Province, he studied singing at the National University of Arts in Korea and at the Hanns Eisler Hochschule fur Music in Berlin.
Previously, Kim Sung-ho won the first prize at the 2018 International Hans Gabor Belvedere Singing Competition and third prize at the International Opera Competition Meistersinger von Nuremberg 2022.
In 2020-21, he joined Dortmund Opera as a permanent member of the ensemble and sang roles such as Belmonte in Die Entfuhrung aus dem Serail and Nagg in the German premiere of Fin de Partie.
