Arsenii Mun wins 1st prize at Busoni Competition

Russian pianist Arsenii Mun (pictured), whose father is Korean, won the Busoni Prize, the first prize, at the 64th International Piano Competition in Ferruccio Busoni, which closed on Saturday (local time) in Bolzano, Italy. Arsenii Mun has also won the Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli Prize, which no one has been awarded for 15 years. The Busoni Competition was founded in 1949, and as Korean, Mun Ji-young won in 2015, and Park Jae-hong won in 2021. The Michelangeli Prize honors Michelangeli, the world-renowned Italian pianist, and is awarded by unanimous consensus.

“I consider myself half Korean, but I have never been to Korea Arsenii,” Mun said. “Taking this award as an opportunity, I want to visit Korea and perform.” He started playing the piano at the age of six, and after the St. Petersburg Conservatory, he is currently attending the Julliard Conservatory in New York. He won the Verbier Festival Special Prize in 2016 and the first prize at the Rubinstein Memorial Competition in Poland in 2017. Since 2019, he has been an official artist for musical instrument maker Yamaha.


gustav@donga.com