Three South Koreans win the top prizes in the International Singing Competition NEUE STIMMEN 2009

Eunju Kwon (24) from South Korea is the winner of the 15,000 EUR Grand Prize in the Bertelsmann Stiftung's international NEUE STIMMEN singing competition. The soprano won over the judges, chaired by Dominique Meyer, with her rendition of the arias "No word from Tom" from Igor Stravinsky's opera "The Rake's Progress" and "Eccomi in lieta vesta" from Bellini's "I Capuleti e i Montecchi." Second Prize (10,000 EUR) went to Kihwan Sim (bass), who celebrated his 26th birthday on Oct 30, the day of the semi-finals. Tenor JunHo You (29) came in third, winning 8,000 EUR. More than 1,100 young singers from 63 nations had applied for this year's competition, and 41 young opera talents qualified during world wide preliminary auditions to compete in the final round in Gütersloh.