Choi Kumi of the School of Music Wins the First Prize at St Albans International Organ Festival for the First Time in Asia

Choi Kumi of the School of Music won the first prize at the 30th St Albans International Organ Festival in the UK which was held from July 8th to July 20th. 

Choi Kumi established a new record by becoming the first Asian contestant to win the first prize In 60 years of the concours’ history. She is also the first female organist to win the first prize in the concours since 1985. At the same time, she won a triple crown by winning Douglas May Award for the best player of the 1st and 2nd rounds of the competition as well as Peter Hurford Bach Prize for the best player of J.S. Bach’s music. As the first-prize winner, Choi not only won the gold medal and prize money but an opportunity to play in London at the prizewinner concert. Beginning from this concert, she would start her Europe tour and release a record under contract with Phillip Truckenbrod Concert Artists, the US pipe organ agency.