Recital by Taehan Kim | Boghossian Foundation

The Boghossian Foundation is delighted to welcome baritone Taehan Kim, winner of the 2023 Queen Elisabeth Competition, for an exceptional evening. Accompanied by pianist Philippe Riga, the virtuoso will perform a programme combining works by European and Korean composers, from Maurice Ravel to Dongsu Shin and Hakjoon Yoon, via Francis Poulenc, Richard Strauss, Franz Shubert and Robert Schumann. This concert is organised in collaboration with the Queen Elisabeth Competition.

One of the most demanding, and one of the most widely publicised international competitions, the Queen Elisabeth Competition, ever since its creation in 1937, has established itself as a springboard for young violinists, pianists, singers, and cellists on the threshold of an international career. Steadfastly committed to the project initiated by Eugène Ysaÿe and Queen Elisabeth, the Queen Elisabeth Competition seeks to discover complete artists; it owes its reputation to a prestigious jury, strict rules, and unparalleled media coverage, as well as to the friendly and enthusiastic hospitality offered by an entire country and its Royal Family. The Competition aims, above all, to serve as an intermediary between those young virtuosos and the world’s great musical venues.

First Prize of the Queen Elisabeth Competition 2023, Taehan Kim currently studies at the College of Music of Seoul National University, where he is taught by Gunyoung Na. He has won several awards at international singing competitions, including the Brian Dickie Young Talent Award at the Neue Stimmen international singing competition in 2022, Second Prize at the Gwangju competition in 2022, the Scholarship Prize at the Concorso Internazionale Riccardo Zandonai 2022, and an Extraordinary Prize at the Concurso Tenor Viñas the same year. He also won Second Prize at the Joongang competition and is a laureate of the Shinhan Music Awards 2018. Taehan Kim has performed in productions including Offenbach’s The Tales of Hoffmann with the SNU Symphony Orchestra at the SNU Cultural Center Grand Theater and in recital with Jihyun Joy Kang at the Kumho Art Hall Yonsei for the Kumho Asiana Cultural Foundation.

Philippe Riga is a pianist, harpsichordist, and fortepiano player. He is a graduate of the Royal Brussels Conservatory and of the Luca School of Arts (Lemmens) in Leuven and honed his skills under the guidance of such musical giants as Helmut Deutsch, Christophe Rousset, and Jos Van Immerseel. He is a laureate of the Fondation Royaumont. Philippe Riga has taken part in many concerts as a soloist and with many singers, including José Van Dam, Udo Reinemann, Veronica Cangemi, Hélène Guilmette, Jean-François Lapointe, Marie-Ange Todorovitch, and Jodie Devos. He has performed at the Festival de Radio France in Montpellier, the Festival d’Aix‑en-Provence, and at masterclasses taught by Helmut Deutsch, José Van Dam, Andreas Scholl, Tom Krause, June Anderson, and Dietrich Henschel. He has made three recordings with an Erard piano ; French melodies by Irène Poldowski with Elise Gäbele, melodies by Fauré with Thibaut Lenaerts, and a CD of Franck pieces with the Choeur de Chambre de Namur. Philippe Riga was a vocal coach and accompanist at the Queen Elisabeth Music Chapel under the direction of José Van Dam and currently teaches accompaniment at the Conservatoire Royal in Brussels.