Min Eun-kyung, 44, from Seoul, won the top prize at this year's Imbangul National Music Festival, receiving the Presidential Prize.
The Imbangul National Music Festival is a major traditional Korean music festival that honors the artistic spirit of Imbangul, a renowned singer who soothed the national sorrow during the Japanese colonial period (1905-1961).
Min earned the Presidential Prize by scoring high marks from the judges for her performance of 'Chogyeong-ikyeong' from Chunhyangga.
In addition to the Presidential Prize, Min received a cash award of 50 million won.
The Best Performer Award in the master category went to Jeong Se-yeon, while the top prize in the Nongak category (Speaker of the National Assembly Award) was awarded to the Honam Women’s Nongak Preservation Association.
This year's festival, the 34th edition, was hosted by Gwangju Metropolitan City and organized by the Imbangul National Music Promotion Association.
The festival featured preliminary and final rounds for students from the 4th to 5th, and for the general and master categories on the 12th and 13th at the Bitgoeul Citizen Cultural Center, the May 18 Memorial Culture Center, and Gwangju Park's Youth Light Pocha.
A total of 398 teams with 724 participants competed in various categories, including student performances in pansori, instrumental music, and dance, as well as general performances in pansori, instrumental music, dance, sijo, gayageum, and fusion traditional music.
From these, 120 winners were selected, with a total prize pool of 196.5 million won.
On the first day of the festival, the 'Imbangul Pansori Talent Show,' a celebration for pure amateur traditional musicians, took place.
One hundred teams participated, showcasing their skills by performing a song of their choice from those favored by Imbangul, including 'Memories,' 'Sukdaemari,' and 'Honamga.'
That evening, a pre-festival event featured a performance of folk songs by master Won Jang-hyeon and a traditional music concert by trot singer Shin Seung-tae.
* This article has been translated by AI.
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