Spotlight on Daegu

The 2025 Daegu International Vocal Music Competition (DIVC) concluded last month, reaffirming its place as a major event while highlighting both its strengths and potential for future growth. This year, the DIVC took significant strides toward internationalization by hosting live preliminary rounds in Milan and New York, broadening its reach and attracting a global applicant pool. The on-site rounds in Daegu were famously rigorous, featuring a "marathon" first round that featured 38 semi-finalists in a single day. This group was then narrowed to an expansive 18 finalists, who performed with the Daegu International Opera Orchestra under Maestro Dongshin Lee.

The jury, chaired by bass Philip Kang, faced a formidable task. The results were a clean sweep by South Korean talent, and almost entirely male voices: Sungmin Park (1st Prize), Jaemyeong Lee and Woogyeom Kim (2nd Prize ex aequo),and Jiwoong Jang and Seongun Park (3rd Prize, ex aequo).
While a testament to the quality of local vocal training, the lack of international winners and few foreigners in the final rounds suggested that while the structure is now much more international, integrating a wider array of finalists still remains a goal.

The competition extended beyond the stage with an insightful "DIVMC Forum 2025". This event positioned the DIVMC within a larger cultural and economic context, featuring keynotes on the power of art to shape a city. Artistic Director Seokbe Ha opened with “How the Daegu International Vocal Competition changes the image of the city as an international arts event.” Andrew Watts provided an international perspective with “Competitions and City Branding: How the IVC in the Netherlands Grew Alongside its City.” Finally, WFIMC Secretary General Florian Riem discussed collaboration in “Global Networks through Art: The future of cooperation as envisioned by the WFIMC.”

The forum underscored Daegu's commitment to leveraging its UCCN status, using the competition not just to discover voices, but to amplify the voice of the city itself. The 2025 edition proved that Daegu is a powerhouse for outstanding talent; the forum suggested its ambition to become an international cultural crossroads.