Key Summary
- Composer Lee Ha-neuli, 20, won the composition category at the 80th Geneva International Music Competition.
- Lee’s piece, Stuff #1, took first place in the final held in Geneva, Switzerland, on the 11th local time.
- Along with the top prize, Lee received six special awards and became a seven-time winner overall.
- The awards included audience, young audience, student, Nikati-de Ruyz, Basel Sinfonietta, and Prix Première Musicale prizes.
- The final was conducted by the Swiss Romande Orchestra, with composer Unsuk Chin serving as jury chair.
Main Story
South Korean composer Lee Ha-neuli, who is 20 years old, won the composition division of the 80th Geneva International Music Competition, a contest the article describes as internationally prestigious. The final took place in Geneva, Switzerland, on the 11th local time.
Lee won first place with an original work titled Stuff #1. The victory came with a prize of 15,000 Swiss francs, which the article says is about 24 million won. Lee also collected six special prizes: the audience award, the young audience award, the student award, the Nikati-de Ruyz award, the Basel Sinfonietta award, and the Prix Première Musicale award. Those additional honors added 11,500 Swiss francs in prize money and brought opportunities for new commissions and performances.
The final performance was presented by the Swiss Romande Orchestra, and the jury was chaired by composer Unsuk Chin. The article says Stuff #1 depicts, through music, the gradual erasure of individual sensory perception within the repetitive structure of a Khrushchyovka apartment.
Lee is currently enrolled at the Korea National University of Arts. The article notes that this latest result follows Lee’s win at the 2024 Bartók International Composition Competition and further strengthens Lee’s presence on the international stage.
The article also states that, with this result, a Korean composer has won the composition category of the Geneva Competition for the sixth time, following Jo Gwang-ho, Choi Jae-hyuk, Son Hyun-jun, Kim Shin, and Yoo Sang-min.
Background
The supplied article says the Geneva Competition’s composition division was founded in 1939. No additional background was provided beyond that detail.
Items Requiring Further Verification
- The article refers to the competition as the 80th edition and describes it as globally prestigious; these are source claims that were not independently verified here.
- The conversion of 15,000 Swiss francs and 11,500 Swiss francs into won appears in the source and may warrant independent checking.
- The description of Stuff #1‘s artistic concept is attributed to the source and is not independently verifiable from the text alone.
- The statement that Korean composers have now won the composition division six times is based on the source and should be confirmed against competition records.