Adelaide International Guitar Festival Announces Jin-Hee Kim As Classical Guitar Winner

Following an intensive judging process the winner of the inaugural Classical Guitar Competition at the Adelaide International Guitar Festival was announced yesterday as Jin-Hee Kim.

An international line-up of competitors from South Korea, Germany, Israel & Hungary and guitarists from across Australia gathered at the Adelaide Festival Centre this week for judging of the semi-finals. After months of preparation and practice the eight finalists were announced on Friday as Joseph Littlefield, Andrey Lebedev, Jin-Hee Kim, Tal Hurwitz, Daniel Nistico, Mardae Selepak, Krzysztof Piotrowicz and Samuel Klemke.

On Sunday 28 November each finalist performed in front of an audience in the Dunstan Playhouse. The audience was treated to some extraordinary performances, with each guitarist competing for prizes over $30,000. During the finals each competitor was required to perform one piece composed prior to 1850 and one piece composed after 1850 within the 15 minutes allocated and the difficult task of deciding a winner was left to the judging panel; Wolfgang Muthspiel, Anthony Garcia, Julia Lester, Douglas Gautier, Oliver Fartach-Naini, Richard Charlton, Gareth Koch, Jim Redgate, Adrian Walter and Karin Schaupp.

Whilst the competition was fierce, first prize was awarded to the youngest competitor in the competition, Jin-Hee Kim from South Korea. Jin-Hee won a a cash prize of $10,000 and a guitar made by revered South Australian luthier Jim Redgate, valued at US $15,000. Second prize $4,000 was awarded to Samuel Klemke from Germany and third prize $2,000 went to Tal Hurwitz from Israel.

Jin-Hee Kim performed Fugue & Allegro by J.S.Bach, BWV 998 and the 2nd and 4th movements from the Sonata by Alberto Ginastera.

Jin-Hee Kim graduated from Seoul Arts High School and is now studying at Korea National University of Arts, she received first place in both the 22nd and 23rd Korean Guitar Association National Competition and also the Korean Baroque Chamber Ensemble's 5th National Competition for String. Jin-Hee also reached the semi-final in the 51st Tokyo International Guitar Competition and was placed in the top five in the Shonai Guitar Festival. Apart from competing Jin-Hee has been involved in both the Kumho Prodigy and Camerata Guitar recitals, as well as master classes conducted by Eduardo Fernandez, Shinich Fukuda, Robero Aussel and Hopkinson Smith. Jin-Hee's teacher is Lee Song-Ou.

Adelaide International Guitar Festival Artistic Director Slava Grigoryan says, "I was blown away by the standard of the competitors involved in the competition, Jin-Hee Kim is a worthy winner and a young rising star in the classical music scene, her playing was incredible and I look forward to watching her career in the future."

The International Classical Guitar Competition prize is proudly supported by the Adelaide Festival Centre Foundation, consistent with the Foundation's mission to enrich the lives of generations to come.

 

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