Choi Jae-hyuk, an alumnus who graduated from the Composition major in Chung-Ang University’s School of Music and completed the coursework for a master’s degree at the Graduate School, won first prize in the final round of the Toru Takemitsu Composition Award, held at Tokyo Opera City Concert Hall in Japan on July 12.

Choi’s achievement carries great significance for both the global contemporary music community and the Korean composition scene. While the competitions commonly known as the “world’s three major classical music competitions”—the Chopin, Queen Elisabeth, and Tchaikovsky competitions—primarily focus on performers such as pianists and violinists, the Toru Takemitsu Composition Award is regarded as one of the world’s most prestigious competitions for contemporary music composition and is highly coveted by young composers around the globe.

Alongside major European contemporary music events such as the Donaueschingen Festival and the Darmstadt Summer Course for New Music, the Toru Takemitsu Composition Award is recognized as one of Asia’s leading platforms for contemporary music. It is particularly renowned as a highly competitive gateway for emerging composers, accepting only large-scale orchestral works rather than concertos or chamber music.

In the contemporary music world, where young composers rarely have the opportunity to hear large-scale orchestral works performed and professionally recorded, winning this award is widely regarded as a direct gateway to the international stage and a strong mark of recognition, drawing attention from music journals, major orchestras, and arts presenters around the world.

Among previous Korean prizewinners, composer Kim Heera placed fourth with an orchestral work in 2011, while Park Myung-hoon was awarded joint second prize in 2016. Following in their footsteps, Choi Jae-hyuk became the first Korean composer to win first prize, once again demonstrating the stature of Korean contemporary music both at home and abroad.

Another reason the competition enjoys such international prestige lies in its distinctive tradition of appointing a single world-renowned composer as the sole judge each year, with the entries evaluated rigorously according to that composer’s own artistic and aesthetic criteria.

Past judges have included leading figures who have shaped the history of 20th- and 21st-century contemporary music, such as Henri Dutilleux, György Ligeti, Luciano Berio, George Benjamin, John Adams, Steve Reich, Helmut Lachenmann, Kaija Saariaho, Unsuk Chin, and Thomas Adès.

For the 2026 competition, the sole judge was Jörg Widmann, a world-renowned German composer and clarinetist and one of the leading figures in contemporary European music, who is active with major orchestras and music festivals around the world.

Of the 112 orchestral works submitted from 25 countries, only four were selected as finalists. Widmann ultimately awarded first prize to Choi Jae-hyuk’s *Supernova for Orchestra*.

Choi’s award-winning work, *Supernova*, is an orchestral composition that musically depicts the explosion of a supernova and the emergence of new life in its aftermath. Through the collision and interplay of powerful bursts of sound, moments of silence, and sonic gestures evoking diverse forms of life, the work presents a distinctive musical world.

The work received its world premiere in the final round, performed by the Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra under the baton of conductor Yoichi Sugiyama, earning high praise from both the judge and the audience.

Choi, who studied under Professor Lee Jae-moon at Chung-Ang University, has continued to pursue an active career as a composer, presenting a wide range of works at events including the Busan Choral Festival & Competition, the 50th anniversary concert of the Busan Metropolitan Chorus, and the Jeju International Wind Ensemble Festival.

Reflecting on the award, Choi said, “Composing is a solitary process that requires you to constantly question yourself and persevere, but I was able to come this far because of my teacher, family, and friends who believed in me. I will see this award not as a destination, but as a new beginning, and continue to learn and challenge myself as a composer.”