Kim Tae-han (22, baritone), a Korean vocalist, won first place at the Queen Elisabeth Competition in Belgium, one of the world's three major classical music competitions.
On the 4th (local time), Kim Tae-han was announced as the winner of the vocal category at the Queen Elisabeth Competition in Belgium, which was revealed early in the morning. Since the vocal category was introduced in 1988, this is the first time a male vocalist from Korea or Asia has won. Born in August 2000, he is the youngest among the 12 finalists in this competition and a rising star in the vocal world who made his solo debut last September.
Kim Tae-han, who graduated from Sunhwa Arts High School and Seoul National University College of Music, began studying vocal music seriously from the third year of middle school and has been trained domestically under Professor Na Geon-yong for the past four years. He is currently receiving guidance from Professor Kim Young-mi at the National Opera Studio.
In 2021, he stood out by placing second in the Korean Vocal Competition, the Korean Vocalists Association International Vocal Competition, and the JoongAng Music Competition held in Korea. Last year, he gradually expanded his stage overseas by winning special awards at three international competitions: the Vi?as Competition in Spain, the Stimmen Competition in Germany, and the Riccardo Zandonai Competition in Italy.
He then reached the highest podium at this competition, which boasts the world's highest prestige in the vocal category, announcing the birth of another 'K-Classic Star.' Right after winning, Kim Tae-han said, "I think I lived 'immersed in music' while preparing for this competition," adding, "I had no pressure because I approached it with the mindset of enjoying the stage, and I sang happily." He shared his dream of "becoming an opera singer who travels around the world singing."
The final stage of this competition, with 12 finalists, was held over three days from the 1st to the afternoon of the previous day. Finalists must perform between three and six pieces, including at least one opera aria in two or more languages. On the stage on the 2nd, Kim Tae-han performed four pieces, including "O Carlo, ascolta" from Verdi's opera Don Carlo and "Meine Sehnsucht, meine Wahn" from Korngold's Die tote Stadt.
Kim Tae-han perfectly performed Verdi's piece, which is generally sung in Italian, in French. Considering Belgium is a French-speaking country, this was evaluated as a strategy to maximize communication with the audience.
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