Composer Lee Ha-neul (20) has won the composition division at the 80th Geneva International Music Competition while sweeping all six special prizes.
The competition announced that in the final round held in Geneva, Switzerland on the 11th (local time), Lee claimed 1st place with her piece ‘Stuff #1’, receiving a prize of 15,000 Swiss francs (approximately 24 million won). Rafael Marino Arcaro (36) of Brazil took 2nd place, and Chan Sing-yat (25) of Hong Kong took 3rd.
The pieces of the three finalists were performed by the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, with the three conducting finalists each taking the baton. The judging panel was chaired by Korean-born composer Unsuk Chin, alongside judges Toshio Hosokawa, Magnus Lindberg, Augusta Read Thomas, and Katharina Rosenberger.
On this day, Lee also received six special prizes, including the Audience Prize, Young Audience Prize, Student Prize, Nicati-De Luze Prize, Basel Sinfonietta Award, and Premier Musical Prize. The Nicati-De Luze Prize commissions a new 7-to-10-minute work for solo instrument or voice. The Basel Sinfonietta Award provides the benefit of performing the winner’s work, while the Premier Musical Prize commissions a new string ensemble piece to be premiered at the autumn festival in 2027.
The winning piece ‘Stuff #1’ is part of her ‘Stuff’ series. It originated from an interest in the endlessly repeating structures of Khrushchevka apartments and the process by which individual senses are gradually erased within them.
Lee is majoring in composition at the Korea National University of Arts and won the JoongAng Music Concours and the BartΓ³k International Composition Competition in 2024. Last year, she received the Hong Jin-ki Creator Award.
Launched in 1939, the Geneva Competition is a world-renowned music contest, and the composition division is held biennially. Past Korean winners include violinist Chung Kyung-wha (1971), pianist Moon Ji-young (2014), and in the composition division, Kwang-ho Cho (2013), Jaehyuk Choi (2017), and Shin Kim (2022).
