The Ysaÿe International Music Competition, founded in 2018, will hold its final round in Korea — the first time the competition has staged its final outside Belgium, and the first time a foreign-founded competition has held its final round in Korea. [Ysaÿe International Music Competition]
The Ysaÿe International Music Competition, founded in 2018, will hold its final round in Korea — the first time the competition has staged its final outside Belgium, and the first time a foreign-founded competition has held its final round in Korea. [Ysaÿe International Music Competition]

"The West's understanding of and passion for classical music and culture is gradually weakening. Asia — Korea in particular — has become the center reshaping the global classical music landscape. It is now time for the West to learn from the East."

A European competition born in the heartland of classical music is leaving home to crown its winner in Korea. The Ysaÿe International Music Competition carries forward the artistic legacy of Belgian violinist Eugène Ysaÿe. This is the first time the competition has held its final round outside its home country, and the first time in Korean music history that a foreign-founded competition has staged its final on Korean soil.

The 2026 Ysaÿe International Music Competition final will be held Saturday and Sunday at Icheon Arts Hall in Gyeonggi Province, co-hosted by the Korea International School of the Arts (KISA) and the competition's Belgian headquarters.

'Coming to Korea is entirely natural' — biennial co-hosting arrangement confirmed

Several strategic considerations lie behind the decision to move the final to Korea. The competition, which bears the name of a legendary violinist, is a relatively young event. It launched in 2018 with the aim of carrying on Eugène Ysaÿe's artistic spirit and discovering the next generation of performers.

Elena Lavrenova, the competition's founder and general director, met with reporters Tuesday morning and said she believed the occasion could serve as "a musical bridge of a new dimension between Belgium and Korea."

Still, Belgium's decision to look to Asia and choose Korea as its partner reflects the rising stature of K-classical music and the country's robust music education system.

Joel Smirnoff, a professor at the Juilliard School and jury president of the competition. [Ysaÿe International Music Competition]
Joel Smirnoff, a professor at the Juilliard School and jury president of the competition. [Ysaÿe International Music Competition]

Jury president Joel Smirnoff, a professor at the Juilliard School, said Koreans possess "an exceptionally well-balanced, passionate and dedicated musical sensibility." He added that he had taught many outstanding Korean students over the years and that Korea now has many excellent teachers of its own. "Coming to Korea, a country that deeply understands and respects classical history, is entirely natural," he said.

Lavrenova said she felt "a deep bond in musical and educational philosophy" with KISA principal Nam Kara, who served as a juror at last year's Belgian competition. She added that with a significant share of the hundreds of applicants each year coming from Asia, the decision to partner with Korea was immediate. "We had the best partner in Korea, so we made the decision without hesitation," she said.

The arrangement is not a one-off. The organizing committee has confirmed that the final will be held in Korea for two consecutive years — 2026 and 2027 — after which Belgium and Korea will alternate hosting the final every other year beginning in 2028.

Nam Kara, who serves as the competition's artistic director and KISA principal, called hosting the final round of a foreign international competition in Korea for the first time "a meaningful event and a very significant challenge." He said what sets the Ysaÿe competition apart is its demand for musical thinking and mature interpretation, not just technical skill, and that it was this distinct philosophy and direction — not simply geographic expansion — that drove the decision to bring the competition to Korea.

Factionalism and politics kept out of judging — Korean violist Choi Eun-sik joins jury

The competition's fairness begins with how its jury is assembled. The Ysaÿe International Music Competition has convened a panel of eight jurors drawn from leading string-music centers — the United States, Belgium, Germany and Korea — with jury president Joel Smirnoff at the helm. The Korean representative on the panel is violist Choi Eun-sik, a professor at Seoul National University's College of Music.

Nam Kara, who oversees the Korean final, said international competition juries can be "quite political," and that the panel was deliberately composed to block factionalism, personal connections and favoritism toward one's own students. "We intentionally excluded people who frequently make the rounds as competition jurors," he said.

Nam Kara, principal of the Korea International School of the Arts. [Ysaÿe International Music Competition]
Nam Kara, principal of the Korea International School of the Arts. [Ysaÿe International Music Competition]

The selection of Choi — a founding member of the Borromeo String Quartet who has swept major competitions — is also notable. It is a strategic choice aimed at providing the most objective and broad-based assessment of each contestant's ability to communicate with an orchestra in a chamber-music spirit, going beyond the subjective evaluation of technique alone.

Nam said the Ysaÿe competition maintains a transparent system in which, even after scores are tallied, jurors engage in open-ended debate until they reach something close to a unanimous consensus.

Violinist Stefan Jackiw, who joins the jury, outlined several criteria he will apply. He said he would look at contestants' instrumental proficiency, their ability to realize the composer's vision while expressing their own personality, and their capacity to balance the two. "Ultimately, what matters is how much conviction you have in yourself," he added.

Orchestra collaboration introduced for first time this year

The Ysaÿe International Music Competition has been discovering promising young talent from around the world since its founding in Liège, Belgium, in 2018.

Now in its eighth edition, the competition's most significant change this year is the introduction of an orchestra collaboration final round for the senior division — the first time such a format has been used. Moving beyond the previous emphasis on violin sonatas and unaccompanied sonatas, the new round will rigorously test each contestant's ability to work with a live orchestra and communicate with a conductor in a chamber-music style.

For the Korea final, the Prime Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Jo Jeong-hyeon will serve as the accompanying ensemble. A total of 121 young musicians from 23 countries applied, and after two rounds of strict online video auditions conducted by the Belgian headquarters, 20 finalists were selected — eight in the junior division and 12 in the senior division. Among them, three hold Korean nationality: Lee Se-na (11) in the junior division, and Kim A-in (15) and Lim Hae-won (22) in the senior division.


shee@heraldcorp.com