Winners of the Bertold Hummel Competition 2009 in the organ category
Regensburg, 27th to 29th November
First prize (€2,300) with an organ concert engagement at Regensburg Cathedral in 2011
The Wells
Sul Bi Yi, born in 1988 in Pyung-taek (South Korea), received her first piano lessons at the age of 3. She later won many prizes in piano competitions. In 2004, she received her first organ lessons in South Korea. In 2006, she began studying Catholic church music at the University of Music and Performing Arts Munich, and two years later she studied concert organ with Prof. Harald Feller (improvisation with Wolfgang Hörlin, choral conducting with Prof. Michael Gläser). In addition to her studies, she is the organist for the German-French Choir in Munich.
2nd prize (€1,300)
Christian Drengk
Christian Drengk was born in Weimar in 1988. He began piano lessons with his mother at the age of five and received organ lessons from his father from the age of ten. Since 1995, he has participated annually in national music competitions in the categories of recorder, piano and organ with very good results, as well as in the national competition "Jugend musiziert" with good to excellent results. Christian is an eight-time national prize winner, and in 2004 he won first prize in Villingen-Schwenningen in the category "Piano and a Wind Instrument" with flutist Marcus Rasch. From 2000 to 2002, Christian attended the summer academy in Arnsberg and was taught by professors such as Ilana Schapira (piano) and Marcus Karas (organ). From January 2004, Christian Drengk received piano lessons from Professor Volkmar Lehmann in Weimar for four years. Under his guidance, he successfully participated in competitions such as "Jugend musiziert" in Erlangen and Villingen-Schwenningen, the "Rotary Piano Competition for Young People" (2006) in Essen and the "Bernhard Stavenhagen Competition" in Greiz (2006), where he placed among the top winners. Since February 2004, Christian has been attending the annual master classes for piano in Altenburg. He has also attended master classes in Freiburg and St. Moritz, as well as at the "Haus Marteau" near Bayreuth. In 2004 and 2005, he received the "Scholarship for Musically Gifted Children and Young People" from the Free State of Thuringia.
From September 2005 to July 2008, Christian Drengk studied organ in the preparatory class at the University of Music "Franz Liszt" Weimar with Professor Michael Kapsner. He also receives lessons in improvisation, liturgical organ playing and basso continuo. In 2006, Christian won third prize in the organ category at the national competition in Freiburg. He also performed in the concert series "A und O – Alte Musik und Orgel" (Early Music and Organ) at the University of Music "Franz Liszt" Weimar and played on historically valuable organs such as the Stertzing organ in Büßleben near Erfurt. In recognition of his outstanding achievements in the state competition "Jugend musiziert" (Youth Makes Music), Christian Drengk was invited to Sondershausen and Hildburghausen in 2004 (with flutist Marcus Rasch) and 2006 (organ) for radio recordings by the cultural radio station "MDR Figaro". In September 2007, he took first place at the 7th European Organ Competition for Young People in Ljubljana, was named the best participant in all age groups and also won follow-up concerts in Rapperswil, Switzerland, and Ljubljana in 2008. On 18 November 2008, Christian was awarded a European sponsorship prize in the organ category by the Pro Europa Cultural Foundation at a ceremony in Freiburg. In September 2009, Christian reached the semi-finals of the 6th International Mikael Tariverdiev Organ Competition in Kaliningrad, Russia. Since October 2008, Christian has been studying piano with Prof. Gilead Mishory and church music with Prof. Martin Schmeding at the University of Music in Freiburg im Breisgau. In February 2009, Christian Drengk took up the position of cantor at the Auferstehungskirche in Freiburg-Littenweiler and has already performed Bach cantatas and other choral concerts. As a sought-after soloist, Christian Drengk has been invited to perform organ concerts on important instruments in Ludwigsburg, Leipzig, Rapperswil, Graz and Linz.
3rd prize (€1,000)
John Sieber
Johannes Sieber, born in Bruchsal in 1987, received his first piano and organ lessons from his father. He continued his piano lessons with Stefan Fuchs at the Bruchsal School of Music and Art, during which time he also successfully participated in the regional and state competition "Jugend Musiziert" several times. He completed his C-level church music training at the age of 15 with church music director Mathias Kohlmann (Pforzheim) and received organ lessons from cantor Andreas Schmid (Eppingen) during this training. He then continued his organ lessons with Mathias Kohlmann.
Johannes Sieber is currently studying church music and school music at the University of Music in Freiburg. His teachers include Prof. Helmut Deutsch (organ literature), Markus Uhl (liturgical organ playing/improvisation) and Tilman Krämer (piano). In addition to his studies, Johannes Sieber works as an organist in Kirchzarten and the Freiburg-Landwasser/Hochdorf pastoral care unit, among other things.