NOTICE

The Jury (the final 10 submissions)

Young-Jo Lee (South Korea)

Anton Armstrong (USA)

Marcin Tomczak (Poland)

Susanna Saw (Malaysia)

2026 Composition Competition Winners

1st Je Ho Jeong "Gand ga-and sul lae" (Korea)​​ 

2nd Yosan Cahyadi "Pater Noster" (Indonesia)​

3rd Darren Israel B. Vega "O MAGNUM MYSTERIUM" (Philippines)

Brief assessment of a president of the Jury 2026 Composition Competition, Young-Jo Lee

The works in this year's Busan Choral Festival & Competition composition category are d on twenty-first-century compositional techniques and fall into three broad categories: sacred, folk, and works in a free style.

The preceding generation sought to new sonorities through a break with the past—one of the greatest challenges in choral composition. These composers have moved beyond that challenge,

creating music from within those expanded possibilities.

Even tonal works have broken free from the constraints of tonality. Having gained freedom from compositional technique, these composers now face a new challenge: finding their own musical voice.

Here, works from different countries come together, each bearing the distinct language, physical features, cuisine, and culture.

Through the Busan International Choral Festival, I have witnessed music that embraces these differences and transforms them into unity.

-- Lee Young-Jo, President of the 2026 Busan Choral Composition Competition Judging panel

Thank you to all the new composers who submitted their works to the 12th Busan Choral Festival Composition Competition.

This year, 49 works from 49 composers across 14 countries participated in the competition.

The winners of the first, second, and third places will be awarded Diplomas and Trophies, which will be sent to them by post.

Please note that the prize money will be transferred via bank account within two weeks after the closing of the festival.

Only the winning composition of the top prize will be performed at the Award ceremony on Sunday, October 25.