4th Korea International Musical Competition to Open in July... Discovering the Next Generation of Musical Talent

Applications Open for Four Weeks Starting May 26

The Korea Musical Association announced on May 26 that it will hold the "4th Korea International Musical Competition" to discover the next generation of talent who will lead the future of Korea’s musical industry and to nurture musical stars who will perform on the global stage.

The competition will be divided into preliminary and final rounds. The Seoul preliminaries will be held from July 20 to July 24 at Boaz Studio, while the Busan preliminaries are scheduled for July 27 at Sohyang Theatre Woori Bank Hall. The finals will take place on August 18 at D-Cube Link Art Center in the format of a public showcase, and general audiences can attend by purchasing tickets.

Participants may compete as individuals or groups in the following categories: elementary, middle, high school, and university/general. This year, in addition to the existing individual categories, a new group category has been established to offer a more diverse range of performances. Groups may consist of a minimum of two up to a maximum of fifteen members.

As an international competition, foreign participants are also eligible to apply. Students may apply based on their current school, while graduates, those on leave of absence, and homeschooled applicants can apply for the appropriate category according to their year of birth. However, university/general applicants must not have any professional stage debut experience for profit, either domestically or abroad.

The competition will be held in the form of live performances of musical numbers that include singing, acting, and choreography. Participants may choose either a Korean or English number. Both the preliminary and final rounds will be judged in person.

The judging panel will consist of producers, directors, music directors, professors, actors, and other experts who are currently active in Korea’s musical industry. To ensure fairness, the list of judges will be revealed on the day of the judging.

Finalists and prize winners will receive a variety of benefits in addition to prize money. All finalists will receive individual feedback from the judges, and prize winners will be exempt from the document screening process when applying for auditions held by Korea Musical Association’s affiliate member companies in 2026 and 2027. Additionally, there will be opportunities to participate in workshops with industry professionals such as actors and music directors.

This year, prize winners will also have the opportunity to perform on stage at the 11th Korea Musical Awards, as well as receive benefits to participate in various side events. Last year, the prize winners of the 3rd Korea International Musical Competition performed on the ending stage of the 10th Korea Musical Awards and participated in the side event "MU:Year" concert.

Applications will be accepted for approximately four weeks starting May 26, and applicants must submit the MR (music resource) file of their preliminary round song. Detailed application guidelines can be found on the official website of the Korea Musical Association.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.