Miffed Korean pianist refuses prize Korea Herald June 11, 2003 By Warren Lee A young Korean pianist competing at a prestigious international music competition cried foul yesterday and gave up his third-place award in protest. Lim Dong-hyek, 18, rejected the jury decision at the Queen Elisabeth Music Competition in Brussels because he felt his performances throughout the month-long competition were demonstrably better than those given by the second-place winner, Shen Wen-Yu, 16, from China. Severin von Eckardstein, 25, from Germany, won first prize. A local daily quoted Lim as saying he and von Eckardstein were the clear front-runners in the competition after early round performances. While he recognizes the legitamacy of von Eckardstein's win, Lim thought that Shen's performance left something to be desired, a sentiment echoed by audiences and local music critics covering the event. While judging in music competitions is by nature subjective, Lim more than hinted that there were conflicts of interest involving a member of the jury. Shen is currently a student of Karl Heinz Kammerling, who sits on this year's panel of judges. Kammerling is also the former teacher of von Eckardstein. In relinquishing third-place, Lim will also be giving up the cash award of 15,000 euro. The Queen Elisabeth Music Competition, named in honor of the music loving Belgian queen, was started in 1951. Held annually for young musicians of distinction, the competition rotates among four categories in piano, violin, composition, and voice. http://www.koreaherald.co.kr/SITE/data/html_dir/2003/06/11/200306110072.asp Janos Gereben/SF www.sfcv.org [log in to unmask]