If you were a man, you were eligible for military service 4 times Violinist swept the international convention

Among the music competitions, how many’international’ competitions, such as the Chopin International Competition and the Tchaikovsky International Competition, are all? To officially become an international competition, it must be approved by the’International Competition Federation (WFIMC)’ under UNESCO. Currently, 122 international competitions are held in 40 countries around the world. On the basis of this list, Korea allows alternative military service. If you finish first or second in WFIMC’s international competitions, you are eligible for alternative service.

Violinist Song Ji-won (28) won first place in four of these competitions. These are the Schoenfeld String Competition in 2014, the China Violin Competition in the same year, the Leopold Mozart Violin Competition in 2016, and the Yun Isang Competition in Korea in 2017. It is extremely rare to win four crowns at WFIMC’s international competitions. Jiwon Song is currently enrolled in a doctoral program at NEC after studying at Curtis Academy of Music, New England Conservatory (NEC), and Juilliard Academy of Music.

Song Ji-won with a brilliant career is a reputable effort. In a telephone interview with Bonji, he said, “I started challenging international competitions from the age of 14,” and said, “I worked hard enough to practice all day while sleeping.” “I went to school, drank coffee, studied until midnight, and practiced until I got to school the next day. When I got back from school, I slept for an hour or two, then studied and practiced again.” In the tournament, which I had in my early teens, I also failed, but as I increased the amount of practice, the results gradually began to come out. Song Ji-won remembered, “The prize started when we finished fourth in the Yehudi menu contest in 2010.”

Even now, when I no longer participate in the competition, the amount of practice remains. “For a performer, practice time is not necessarily absolute. There are some performers who don’t have to do this much, but I focus and can’t finish it in a short time, so I tend to make the sound all day long. He, who is currently staying in Korea, said, “I am almost holding an instrument except for the time my parents sleep.”

The reason why I went to competitions from childhood and devoted myself to practice is because my goals are high. “I needed stress to play satisfactory. Every time I went to the competition, my skills improved, so I deliberately participated in the competition for stress.” He said that the exceptionally long practice time is mainly used to find the tone. “The notes written by composers have their own tone. It takes a lot of time to express the notes in different ways in order to properly take out the colors that already exist.” It means holding an instrument all day long for the ideal expression of a violin that can produce a single note in many colors.

Song Ji-won will hold a recital at IBK Chamber Hall, Seoul Arts Center on the 2nd of next month. Under the title of’Asian Project’, they perform in the order of Chen Kang from China, Grigg from Norway, Isang Yun from Korea, and Bartok from Hungary. The works of Korea and China are the songs I learned at the Yun Isang International Competition and the China International Competition. Song Ji-won said, “I have heard a lot of advice when playing German music,’Think about your German accent.’ When I play Asian music, especially Yun Isang, I thought that I could melt my language more familiarly. After the recital next month, Song Ji-won is scheduled to perform with domestic orchestras in April and June.

Reporter Kim Ho-jeong [email protected]