The winner of the 2009 "NEUE STIMMEN" International Singing Contest is Eunju Kwon. The 24-year-old soprano from South Korea took top prize with outstanding renditions of the arias "No word from Tom" from Stravinsky's "The Rake's Progress" and "Eccomi in lieta vesta" from Bellini's "I Capuleti e i Montechi." Second and third place were also taken by singers from South Korea: bass Kihwan Sim and tenor JunHo You. Fourth place went to tenor Pavel Kolgatin from Russia, fifth place to soprano Andriana Chuchman from Canada, sixth place to Rachel Frenkel from Israel and seventh place to bass Mikhail Korobeyniko from Russia.

Saying goodbye to Reinhard Mohn: Together with the Mohn family, numerous political, business and social leaders and long-time colleagues came together in Gütersloh on October 16, 2009, to pay their respects to the philanthropist and entrepreneur.

On April 2, 2009, at the final event in the German President's Forum on Demographic Change, the organizers looked back at their efforts since 2005, when the series was launched by Germany's president and the Bertelsmann Stiftung. The goal of the forum was to increase awareness among policymakers, the business community, social leaders, media representatives and the public on the challenges stemming from demographic change.