Classical Music News

Winners Announced at 2024 Malko Competition

April 22, 2024

2 MIN READ

34-year-old South Korean conductor Samuel S. Lee won first prize

Held by the Danish Radio Symphony Orchestra to commemorate its founding conductor, Nicolai Malko, the 2024 Malko Competition recently came to a close.

As the first prize winner, Samuel Lee won 20,000 Euro, conducting contracts with 24 leading international symphony orchestras, and three years with the Danish National Symphony Orchestra's chief conductor Fabio Luisi as a personal mentor.

In the competition final, he chose to perform Haydn's symphony La passione in a special baroque version, which included harpsichord accompaniment.

"It was a risky choice for me to set out in that way, but I believed in it, and I am glad that the jury and the orchestra understood the idea," said Lee. "Although I have conducted many good orchestras, it has been very special to work with the Danish National Symphony Orchestra for a whole week. All in all, it's a fantastic experience to stand on the podium and shape the music with my hands while I communicate with the musicians"

Danish National Symphony Orchestra's chief conductor and Malko Competition jury chairman, Fabio Luisi, said, "Samuel has a fantastic way of phrasing the music, and he worked with the orchestra's sound in a very special way throughout the competition. That is why he wins the Malko Competition 2024."

Educated in Berlin and Hamburg as a violist and conductor, Lee is a former winner of the BMI Conducting Competition in Bucharest, Taipei International Conducting Competition, and prizewinner in the Gustav Mahler Conducting Competition. As a Viola Professor at the Leipzig Music Academy, he also serves as the Associate Conductor for the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra.

Lee has conducted the Hamburg Symphony Orchestra, the Stuttgart Philharmonic, Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra, Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra, London Symphony Orchestra and Minnesota Symphony Orchestra.

This year, the 28-year-old Colombian Ana Maria Patiño-Osorio won 2nd prize in addition to the audience prize of 1500 Euro and the special youth jury prize, which was presented on stage in the Concert Hall by students from Viborg Cathedral School.