Jaehyeok Choi, a Master’s student in Prof. Markus Hechtle’s composition class, has won first prize in the Toru Takemitsu Composition Award in Tokyo.
Juror Jörg Widmann on the award-winning work: Jaehyeok Choi’s Supernova for Orchestra is an almost classic example of highly nuanced, meticulously crafted orchestration and instrumentation. What stands out most here is the logic and consistency of its structure. The piece steadfastly adheres to a single motif of aphoristic conciseness — a small, primal musical cell. It is, in a sense, a celebration of pure sound and structure itself.
Jaehyeok Choi was born in Cheonan, South Korea, in 1998. He is a composer whose music explores the inner dimensions of human existence and social conflict. He studied composition under Professor Jaemoon Lee at Chung-Ang University, where he earned his Bachelor of Music degree. His works reconstruct the wounds and memories of our time through refined structures and delicate soundscapes, reflecting on fundamental questions of being. His music has been performed by Ensemble Wiro, the Seogwipo Wind Orchestra, and the Busan City Choir. Choi addresses themes such as war, isolation, and solidarity across diverse instrumentations. His notable works include New Cold War, Irreconcilable, and Arirang.
About the competition
The Toru Takemitsu Composition Award is an international music competition for young composers of contemporary classical music organized in Tokyo, Japan.The award was founded in 1997 by composer Toru Takemitsu, its namesake.
Each year, only one judge picks the winner of the award. For the first 3-year cycle, Takemitsu himself chose the judges: Henri Dutilleux (1997), György Ligeti (1998), and Luciano Berio (1999). Then, after Takemitsu's death, the three successors, Louis Andriessen (2000 recommended by Berio), Oliver Knussen (2001 recommended by Dutilleux) and Joji Yuasa (2002 recommended by Ligeti) were nominated by the initial judges.
For the third 3-year cycle (2003–2005), George Benjamin (2003), Magnus Lindberg (2004) and John Adams (2005 • cancelled) were nominated on the recommendation of the competition's advisors (Hiroyuki Iwaki, Oliver Knussen, Kent Nagano, Kazushi Ohno, Simon Rattle, Esa-Pekka Salonen and Hiroshi Wakasugi) and preceding judges.
For the fourth 3-year cycle (2007–2009), the advisors and previous judges selected Akira Nishimura (2007), Steve Reich (2008) and Helmut Lachenmann (2009).
Tristan Murail (2010), Salvatore Sciarrino (2011) and Toshio Hosokawa (2012) were appointed as judges for the new 2010–2012 cycle.
The nominated pieces are performed at the Tokyo Opera City Concert Hall.
As of 2011, fifty different composers had been nominated for this prize since its inception in 1997.The total sum of the cash award is 3,000,000 Yen each year.
In 2026, the cash awards were:
1st Prize: 1,000,000 yen
2nd Prize: 800,000 yen
3rd Prize: 700,000 yen
4th Prize: 500,000 yen
(About the competition - Text source Wikipedia)