NOTICE

The Jury (the final 11 submissions)

Young-Jo Lee (South Korea)

Giselle Wyers (USA)

Ēriks Ešenvalds (Latvia)

Tommyanto Kandisaputra (Indonesia)

2025 Composition Competition Winners

1st Byeon, Hyun Jeong "Gutgeori" (Korea)​​

2nd Michał Malec "Post haec vidi" (Poland)​

3rd Bae, Min Jun "You Called to say the Moon has Riesen" (Korea)​​

Brief assessment of a president of the Jury 2025 Composition Competition, Young-Jo Lee

All of the pieces clearly demonstrated a sophisticated and adept application of modern compositional techniques to craft unique sonic landscapes.

Much of the work showed strong motivation and effort, reflecting not only an awareness of contemporary trends, but also a desire to stay ahead of them.

From the 20th century onward, theorists have gained greater prominence, with their perspectives increasingly informing and influencing compositional practices.

In the pursuit of innovation, there has often been a tendency to overlook the importance of historical continuity, listener engagement, and cultural exchange. Musical expression has frequently been overshadowed by sound forms driven more by logic or emotion than by musicality. Reflecting broader contemporary trends, a number of today’s pieces seemed overly immersed in choral structures, abstract meditations on humanity, and compositional logic, often at the expense of exploring the emotional and expressive dimensions of sound and text. There were also instances of sonic excess, where intrusive elements disrupted sounds that deserved to be heard more clearly.

Art is often described as an expression of the self, yet it also demands a sense of space achieved through restraint—akin to the delicate act of releasing one's own substance.

-- Lee Young-Jo, President of the 2025 Busan Choral Composition Competition Judging panel

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Thank you to all the new composers who submitted their works to the 10th Busan Choral Festival Composition Competition.

This year, 48 works from 48 composers across 25 countries participated in the competition.

The winners of the first, second, and third places will be awarded Diplomas and Trophies, which will be sent to them by post.

Please note that the prize money will be transferred via bank account within two weeks after the closing of the festival.

Only the winning composition of the top prize will be performed at the Award ceremony on Sunday, November 2.