Winner of the 18th Seoul International Music Competition
Days after the competition has ended, I still cannot believe I was awarded First Prize at the 18th Seoul International Music Competition. It has been such an exciting and wonderful experience, and I am honoured to have made this debut in the country of my birth.
It was such a long process, sending in applications much earlier in the year, and I can still remember the shock when I received the email in July that I had been accepted to compete this year. And then came a week and a half of singing almost every day, singing one round and preparing for the next, 1st round, 2nd round, semi-finals and then the finals, 7 arias and 3 songs. It was truly a test of my mental strength as well as my ability to keep my body and voice in good shape!
There are so many people to thank, but here goes (in chronological order): firstly, my coaches at Juilliard who have been helping my refine my arias and songs — Adam Nielsen, Bénédicte Jourdois, Mary Birnbaum, Lydia Brown, Karen Delevan, Nils Neubert — without them, I would not have had the diction, dramatic intent and musical understanding of my pieces as I did during that week; Darrell Babidge, my teacher, for always supporting me and checking in on my technique; the Secretariat of the Seoul International Music Competition, who were so encouraging and supportive, and made it so much easier to be able to focus only on my singing, they made everything run smoothly and without them, I might’ve even missed my cue to go on stage!; the official accompanist of the Competition, Hojeong Jeong (who is a Juilliard alum!), who not only played for all the international competitors, but played every round before the finals, her patience and support is unmatched and I couldn’t have done this without her; the Korea COOP Orchestra and our conductor for the finals Docki Kim, it was a such a joy to make music with them, and I am thankful for their musical collaboration and support; the judges, who have a much harder time than we do (we have the opportunity to make music because we love it, the jury have to sit and decide who gets through or not), I am grateful for their patience and effort throughout the competition week; to LG and Korean Air for sponsoring the competition, and the city of Seoul and Dong-A Ilbo newspaper for supporting the competition, they allow young classical musicians to gain exposure and experience, and help them advance in their careers by having this competition; to Seoul Arts Center for hosting this competition; to the six other finalists who I had the absolute pleasure of sharing the stage with; to the audience who came to support us and to support art; and to my mom who flew all the way from Australia to help me and watch me perform, and my godmom who came to the finals!
And there it is! I am grateful again and again for the opportunity to make music and share my art with more and different people, and I am excited for whatever comes next!! All performances are available on the Seoul International Music Competition’s Youtube channel, and below are some press clippings from Dong-A Ilbo newspaper!