326 teams, 3,313 participants over 10 years

Festival links musicians with developmental disabilities to education, employment

Performers have taken the stage in the US and Hungary

SK Innovation CEO Chu Hyung-wook (third from left) poses with Raon Trio, the top-prize winners at the 10th GMF awards ceremony on Tuesday. [SK Innovation]
SK Innovation CEO Chu Hyung-wook (third from left) poses with Raon Trio, the top-prize winners at the 10th GMF awards ceremony on Tuesday. [SK Innovation]

The Global Music Festival for people with developmental disabilities, known as GMF, marked its 10th anniversary this year. Organized by SK Innovation, it is the largest music festival of its kind in South Korea.

SK Innovation said Wednesday that it held the 10th GMF final round at COEX Auditorium in Gangnam-gu, Seoul, on Tuesday.

The event drew officials from government, business, academia and civil society, including SK Innovation CEO Chu Hyung-wook, Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism Cultural Arts Policy Director Jeong Hyang-mi, Heart-Heart Foundation Chairman Oh Ji-cheol, SM Culture & Contents Advertising Business Division head Hong Jun-hwa and Korea National University of Arts Professor Kim Dae-jin. The roughly 1,000-seat venue sold out for the third consecutive year.

GMF has been held annually since 2017 by the nonprofit Heart-Heart Foundation with sponsorship from SK Innovation. Over the past decade, 326 teams and 3,313 musicians with developmental disabilities have participated, drawing an audience of about 40,000.

This year, 36 teams entered the preliminary round, and six advanced to the finals through a rigorous selection process. Namsan Art Orchestra took the grand prize, receiving the Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Award and prize money of 10 million won ($7,280). Raon Trio won the top excellence award, while Gugak Arts Group Sonulrim and Z-Cap Band received excellence awards, and Avianto and Haeum Orchestra earned encouragement prizes.

Over the past decade, GMF has grown beyond a simple music competition into a model connecting musicians with developmental disabilities from discovery through training, performance and social independence. About 140 participants have gone on to achieve tangible social milestones — entering music programs at universities, finding employment or starting their own ventures. Award-winning teams discovered through GMF have grown into professional ensembles performing on stages at home and abroad.

GMF has also evolved into a platform that expands performance opportunities for South Korean musicians with developmental disabilities onto the international stage. After hosting GMF in USA in Atlanta, Georgia, in 2023, the festival held GMF in Hungary in Budapest in 2024 and last year.

SK Innovation Executive Vice President Kang Chung-sik said the company would "support musicians with developmental disabilities so that their talents can lead to social achievement beyond education and performance." He added that GMF would become a signature corporate social responsibility brand for SK Group, much like "Scholarship Quiz," the long-running social contribution program that has represented the group for decades.


yeongdai@heraldcorp.com