Anchor: South Korean baritone Kim Tae-han has won the Queen Elisabeth Competition for voice. The competition is regarded as one of the three most prestigious contests for classical musicians, along with the International Chopin Piano Competition and the International Tchaikovsky Competition. This marks the first time an Asian male singer has won the coveted classical music contest in Belgium.
Kim Bum-soo has more.

Report:

[Sound bite: Baritone Kim Tae-han performance (Queen Elisabeth Competition Voice 2023, Final)]
ERICH KORNGOLD Mein Sehnen, Mein Wähnen (Die tote Stadt)

South Korean baritone Kim Tae-han has won the Queen Elisabeth Competition for voice, reputedly one of the three most coveted classical music contests in the world.

[Sound bite: Queen Elisabeth Competition prize announcement]
"Queen Elisabeth International Grand Prize, Queen Mathilde Prize... Tae-han Kim!"

Kim was named the first prize winner by the jury in Brussels on Sunday, becoming the first Asian male singer to win the contest since the voice section was added in 1988.

[Sound bite: Baritone Kim Tae-han (English)]
"I don't know... my brain has... "
(You are speechless.)
"Yeah, I am speechless."

[Sound bite: Baritone Kim Tae-han performance (Queen Elisabeth Competition Voice 2023, Final)]
RICHARD WAGNER "Wie Todesahnung... O, du mein holder Abendstern"

During the finals, the 22-year-old baritone sang five songs, including "O, du mein holder Abendstern" of Richard Wagner's opera "Tannhauser." 

Kim, the youngest of the 12 finalists, has already won several awards at prestigious competitions, including the Neue Stimmen international singing competition and the Concurso Tenor Viñas last year.

The Queen Elisabeth Competition, founded in 1937 and named after the queen of Belgium, is considered one of the three most prestigious contests for classical musicians, along with the International Chopin Piano Competition and the International Tchaikovsky Competition.

The concours is held every year, rotating among the four disciplines of piano, cello, voice and violin.

A South Korean has won the competition for the second straight year after Choi Ha-young won for the cello last year.
Kim Bum-soo, KBS World Radio News.