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Rising star Park Sue-ye takes 1st prize at XIII International Jean Sibelius Violin Competition

Published: 30 May. 2025, 15:15

Park Sue-ye from Korea takes the first prize in the XIII International Jean Sibelius Violin Competition at the Concert Hall of the Helsinki Music Center, in Helsinki, Finland, on May 29. [EPA/YONHAP]

Violinist Park Sue-ye won first prize at the XIII International Jean Sibelius Violin Competition in Helsinki, Finland, becoming only the second Korean ever to win the award.

The 25-year-old violinist secured the top spot during the competition’s final round held from May 27 to 29. She follows in the footsteps of violinist Yang In-mo, who became the first Korean national to win the event in 2022.

Japan’s Minami Yoshida took second place and the United States’ Claire Wells placed third.

In the finals, Park performed Oliver Knussen’s Violin Concerto with the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra and Jean Sibelius’ Violin Concerto with the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra.

With the first prize, she receives 30,000 euros ($34,000) in prize money, as well as mentoring from jury chairman and conductor John Storgards and violinist Pekka Kuusisto. She will also be granted use of a G.B. Guadagnini 1777 “ex Sasson” violin on loan for one year. Park currently plays a 1753 Guadagnini, sponsored by the Samsung Foundation of Culture.

Founded in 1965 to mark the centennial of Finnish composer Sibelius’ birth, the competition is held every five years in Helsinki and is open to violinists the age of 30 or under. The 2020 edition was postponed to 2022 due to the Covid-19 pandemic, making this year’s event the first in three years.

Renowned violinists such as Oleg Kagan, Viktoria Mullova and Leonidas Kavakos are among the competition’s past winners. Korean American violinist Christel Lee won in 2015, and Yang claimed the title in 2022, becoming the first Korean national to do so.

Park, who is emerging as one of Korea’s leading young violinists, released her debut album at age 16, a complete recording of the Paganini Caprices. Her album, “Journey Through a Century,” was named both Recording of the Month and Recording of the Year by British classical music magazine Gramophone in 2021.

She is currently studying under Ulf Wallin at the University of Music “Hanns Eisler” Berlin. In February, she performed at Kumho Art Hall in western Seoul as part of the Kumho Rising Star series.

Park is scheduled to release a solo violin album in July. She will give recitals at the Sounds S venue in Yongsan District, central Seoul, in November, and at Tomato Hall and the Samsung Leeum Music Concert in December.

Translated from the JoongAng Ilbo using generative AI and edited by Korea JoongAng Daily staff.
BY HA NAM-HYUN [[email protected]]