Twenty years old cellist Taeguk Mun of South Korea, winner of the Pablo Casals International Cello Competition was presented with his award in Budapest on Saturday as part of the 48th Budapest International Music Competition at the Hungarian Academy of Music.
The presentation was combined with a concert which included performances by Mun as well as second-place finishers Ildiko Szabo of Hungary and Tomasz Daroch of Poland, and third placed Santiago Canon-Valencia of Columbia.
Mun performed Schumann's Cello Concerto in A minor, op. 129. He was accompanied by the Hungarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Janos Kovacs.
Daroch played Chopin's G-Minor Cello Sonata op. 65, with Maria Kovalszki on the piano, Szabo played Beethoven's C Major Sonata No.1 op.102, with Istvan Lajko on the piano and Canon-Valencia played two pieces by David Popper, with Zsuzsanna Homor joining him on the piano.
Mun was born in 1994 in South Korea. He has been the 1st prize winner of various competitions. Mun is currently studying at the New England Conservatory in Boston.
A total of 157 cellists from 38 countries and regions entered the competition, which was last held 10 years ago for cello. Ninety four cellists participated in the preliminary round of the completion, fifteen of them entered the semi-final, and seven of them entered the final.