Korean composer wins first Fanny prize

Korean composer wins first Fanny prize

Orchestras

norman lebrecht

May 24, 2024

The first Fanny Mendelssohn composing prize, worth 10,000 Euros, has been awarded to Sunghyun Lee, 28, from Seoul.

He is presently studying in Frankfurt.

Comments

  • CRwamg says:
    May 24, 2024 at 11:55 am

    But how can you tell?

    Reply
  • Andrew Clarke says:
    May 24, 2024 at 1:49 pm

    What’s the difference between a composition prize and a night with Paris Hilton? Answers on a postcard please …

    Reply
  • Sheila Hayman says:
    May 24, 2024 at 2:08 pm

    I don’t quite know how to respond to this, but as Fanny’s direct heir/representative on the planet, being lost for words is almost unprecedented. I’m sure the many thousands of women composers in the world will find the words.

    Reply
    • Allma Own says:
      May 25, 2024 at 3:52 am

      She has gotten more than her due already, based on the quality of her music. She had talent, but she was no genius. A genius woman gets recognition. Germaine Tailleferre, for example. Even though much of her music is extremely feminine.

      Reply
  • zandonai says:
    May 24, 2024 at 3:47 pm

    i thought fanny mendelssohn price is for female composers.
    i guess a lot of korean men look feminine enough due to k-pop and k-drama influence.

    Reply
    • Andrew J Clarke says:
      May 24, 2024 at 11:04 pm

      Well, Jisoo from Blackpink turned up as the cover girl in Vogue France last year, actually dressed as a young woman of 28 and not as a high school sex kitten of 17 as per the public image. Meanwhile the South Korean birthrate continues to plunge. Very disturbing.

      Reply
    • John Borstlap says:
      May 25, 2024 at 9:38 am

      But that’s the whole point, apparently. How this would be represented through the music, is entirely mysterious, though.

      Reply
    • Andrew Clarke says:
      May 26, 2024 at 2:46 am

      K-pop has an unhealthy fixation with high school, a bit like the Japanese.
      Jisoo, from K-pop band Blackpink, featured as cover girl in Vogue France last year (“La Flamme”). In the characteristically gushing feature article she actually appeared as an attractive young woman of twenty eight, her actual age, rather than a schoolgirl which is what she looks like on stage.

      Reply
  • Ludwig's Van says:
    May 26, 2024 at 1:42 am

    The level of talent coming out of South Korea is simply phenomenal: Seung-Jin Cho, Yunchan Lim, Yekwon Sunwoo, etc. Is there something in the Korean drinking water?

    Reply

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