Cellist Kim Tae-Yeon on May 31 took second place at the Queen Elisabeth Competition at the Centre for Fine Arts in Brussels. (Kumho Cultural Foundation)

By Lee Jihae

Cellist Kim Tae-Yeon is this year's runner-up at the Queen Elisabeth Competition, one of the world's top three classical music contests.

The Kumho Cultural Foundation in Seoul said Kim on May 31 took second in the cello section of this year's event at the Centre for Fine Arts in Brussels. The winner was Ettore Pagano of Italy.

Kim received a standing ovation in the final round for her performance of "Four Odes to the Tidings of Flowers" by Fang Man, the competition's commissioned piece, and a concerto by Polish composer Witold Lutosławski.

She not only captivated the audience at the venue but also those who watched her online, winning the Klara Audience Award as selected by viewers of Klara, the classical music channel of Belgian broadcaster VRT.

A combined 185 cellists ages 18-30 worldwide entered, with 64 including five Koreans who passed the preliminary video screening advancing to the finals. Kim is the first Korean to win a prize in the cello category of this competition, following Choi Ha-young's first-place showing in 2022.

At the Queen Elisabeth Music Chapel, an academic institution for young musicians in Waterloo, Belgium, Kim on June 2 will receive a certificate and cash prize of EUR 20,000 (KRW 35.14 million) from Belgian Queen Mathilde at the awards ceremony.

jihlee08@korea.kr