Eunju Kwon wins 1st prize at NEUE STIMMEN 2009
Eunju Kwon (25) from South Korea is the winner of the 15,000 EUR Grand Prize in the Bertelsmann Stiftung’s international NEUE STIMMEN singing competition. The soprano won over the judges, chaired by Dominique Meyer, with her rendition of the arias “No word from Tom” from Igor Stravinsky’s opera “The Rake's Progress” and “Eccomi in lieta vesta“ from Bellini’s “I Capuleti e i Montecchi.” Second Prize (10,000 EUR) went to Kihwan Sim (bass), who celebrated his 26th birthday on Oct 30, the day of the semi-finals. Tenor JunHo You (29) came in third, winning 8,000 EUR. More than 1,100 young singers from 63 nations had applied for this year’s competition, and 41 young opera talents qualified during world wide preliminary auditions to compete in the final round in Gütersloh.
1st Prize
Eunju Kwon
South Korea, Soprano, *1985
Eunju began her voice training in 2003 at the age of 18, and studied with Prof. Jungwon Park at Seoul’s Hanyang University for four years. As a university student, Eunju sang the role of Margarethe in Gounod’s Faust. Since 2008, she has been part of Prof. Rudolf Piernay’s class at Mannheim University of Music, where she performed as a soloist in Johann Sebastian Bach’s Magnificat. Eunju entered a number of competitions in 2006 and 2007, winning first prize at the Korean Sungjung Competition in 2006.
