The IsangYun Piano Competition 2013 will be held in Tongyeong, South Korea from November 2nd to 10th. The ISANGYUN Competition 2013, presented by Gyeongnam Province, Tongyeong City and MBC Gyeongnam, and managed by Tongyeong International Music Festival Foundation, takes its aim to remember the music of Isang Yun (1917~1995), the world renowned contemporary composer, promoting cultural exchanges among nations through music and supporting talented young musicians from all over the world.
The first Gyeongnam International Music Competition was held in 2003. The organizers originally wanted different instrument disciplines. The first discipline selected was cello, since Yun was a famed cellist, and he had composed his first concerto for cello in 1975–76. The organizers then selected violin and piano, because those were the top two disciplines to present the highest quantity of international competitions, and because Yun wrote many works involving those two instruments. They also found that after one cycle of three editions, the winners had an opportunity to collaborate and play in piano trios.
In order to attract an international audience, the organizers wanted the Gyeongnam International Music Competition to be recognized by the World Federation of International Music Competitions. In accordance with WFIMC statutes, the event had to show two editions of success, which it did in 2003 and 2004. The next year, the foundation submitted an application to the WFIMC. In 2006 the World Federation of International Music Competitions accepted the Gyeongnam International Music Competition as a member competition, which made it the first music competition in South Korea to receive such an honor. The competition was renamed to ISANGYUN Competition in 2008 to commemorate Isang Yun (1917–1995), a Korean composer who was born in Tongyeong and later settled in Germany.
