Queen Elisabeth Vocal Competition Announces 2023 Winner

South Korean baritone Taehan Kim has won first prize and a €25,000 cash award

South Korean baritone Taehan Kim, 22, has been announced as the grand prize-winner of the Queen Elisabeth Competition — whose 2023 edition was dedicated to voice and held from May 21 to June 3 in Brussels, Belgium.

To receive the award from Queen Mathilde of Belgium, alongside a cash prize of €25,000, Kim is now the first Asian male to win the Competition’s singing category since it was established in 1988. He will also receive numerous concert opportunities in Belgium and abroad.

Kim currently studies with Gunyoung Na at Seoul National University’s College of Music. He has won prizes at the Brian Dickie Young Talent Award, the Gwangju Competition, Concorso Internazionale Riccardo Zandonai, Concurso Tenor Viñas, Joongang Competition, and Shinhan Music Awards.

The Competition’s second prize with €20,000 went to contralto Jasmin White, third place and €17,000 was awarded to soprano Julia Muzychenko-Greenhalgh, and fourth place with €12,500 went to mezzo-soprano Floriane Hasler. 

Bass singer Inho Jeong was awarded fifth place with €10,000, and mezzo-soprano Juliette Mey was awarded sixth place with €8,000. 

Six other laureates won €4.000 each, including mezzo-sopranos Fleuranne Brockway and Maria Warenberg, baritone Daniel Gwon, and sopranos Anna-Sophie Neher, Carole-Anne Roussel, and Sílvia Sequeira.

Chaired by Bernard Foccroulle, the 2023 jury for voice comprised June Anderson, Peter de Caluwe, Marc Clémeur, Helmut Deutsch, Serge Dorny, Bernarda Fink, Jonathan Friend, Sumi Jo, Sophie Karthäuser, Sophie de Lint, Bejun Mehta, Patricia Petibon, Christoph Prégardien, José Van Dam, Reinoud Van Mechelen, Evamaria Wieser.

A video of Kim performing Korngold’s Mein Sehnen, Mein Wähnen in the Finals, can be viewed below.