News

"If There's No Stage, We'll Build One" — KCO Opens Its First Door for Emerging Composers
By Baekhwa Lee, K-Classic News | Published April 16, 2026

• 26 works confirm the future of Korean creative music

• Grand Prize: Joonghyun Lee; Excellence Award (General Division): Dabeen Jeon; Excellence Award (Middle & High School Division): Taehwan Lee

• KCO becomes the first private organization to support the creative ecosystem through a young composers competition

 The Korean Chamber Orchestra (KCO, Music Director Min Kim) has announced the final award winners of the 1st KCO Young Composers Competition in 2026. A total of 26 emerging composers submitted entries. The 26 scores sent in by the next generation of creators in Korea's classical music world proved that this door — the first KCO has opened for composers as a private orchestra — is no small one.

 The competition was divided into a General Division and a Middle & High School Division, with finalists selected through adjudication based on submitted scores and MIDI recordings. The jury consisted of KCO Music Director Min Kim, Professor Uzong Choe of the Department of Composition at Seoul National University College of Music, and Professor Seungjae Jeong of the New Media Composition program at Sangmyung University. Evaluation was conducted rigorously and in depth, based on criteria of originality, technical accomplishment, and artistic merit.

 The Grand Prize was awarded to composer Joonghyun Lee for the smell of death and italian cuisine #4 (apotheosis of Corelli #2). The Excellence Award (General Division) went to composer Dabeen Jeon for Two Pieces for Orchestra, and the Excellence Award (Middle & High School Division) went to composer Taehwan Lee for Nächtlicher Monolog. The Best Prize was left unawarded.

 KCO conceived of this competition with the goal of creating opportunities for compositions to go beyond the page — for works to breathe and come alive on an actual stage. In particular, the establishment of a youth division to open the door to an even younger generation of composers shows that this competition aims not merely to select winners, but to broaden the foundations of the creative ecosystem. The selected works are scheduled to receive their world premieres at future KCO-hosted concerts, and a range of additional support is planned, including the production of performance video and audio archives and their release on streaming services.

 KCO stated, "We look forward to the moment when the works of the composers discovered through this competition meet audiences on stage," adding, "We will continue to consistently discover new composers and never stop building the practical foundations for creative activity." Further details about the competition can be found on the Korean Chamber Orchestra's Instagram and the Onstage official blog.

Press inquiries: KCO Secretariat | kce1965@gmail.com | 02-592-5728

The following works are discarded, and will not be performed again in forseeable future.

• The Art of Brainrot 1 (2024)

• The Art of Brainrot 2 : Electric Boogaloo (2024)

• Junkcore #1 (2023)

• Junkcore #2 (2023)

Video of these works are now not visible on YouTube, and will not be able to purchase online.

(3. Mar. 2026)