Jeonbuk National University (JBNU)'s Department of Korean Music has been enhancing the university's standing as a leading institution for traditional Korean music by producing consecutive Presidential Award winners at prestigious national competitions.

Alumna Hee-Jeong Cho (Class of 1999, Department of Korean Music) won the Presidential Award (First Prize) in the Pansori Masters Division at the 39th Jeonju Dae-Sasupnori National Competition, elevating her to the ranks of distinguished masters.

With this achievement, JBNU's Department of Korean Music has proven to be a cradle for gugak talent, producing acclaimed pansori singers and percussionists not only at the Jeonju Dae-Sasupnori National Competition but also at leading national contests such as the Chunhyang Traditional Korean Music Competition, the Daegu Traditional Korean Music Festival, and the Gongju Park Dong-jin Pansori Masters and Percussion Competition.

In this year's competition, Cho moved the judges with a poignant rendition of the passage "Queen Sim Hwanghu, Yearning for Her Father" from Simcheongga.

The daughter of Master So-nyeo Jo, a holder of Jeollabuk-do's Intangible Cultural Property, Cho grew up immersed in sound and pursued a career as a vocalist. She first won a prize in the third grade of elementary school at the National Children's KBS Pansori King-of-Kings Competition, and in 1998, while a senior in high school, she won first prize at the Jeonju Dae-Sasupnori Student National Competition, showing early promise.

Currently teaching at Jeonju Arts High School and training younger students, she said, "I am very pleased to have achieved a good result in this competition. It allows me to present myself as a teacher who is not ashamed in front of my students. Among the contestants I was the youngest, and I have more years ahead of me to walk the path of a vocalist than the years I have already spent singing. I take this award to mean I must strive even harder, and I will work to become an outstanding vocalist."

Earlier last month, alumna Do-sun Gong (Class of 2005, Department of Korean Music) won the Presidential Award in the Daemyeong Gosu Division at the 33rd National Gosu Competition, establishing herself among leading Daemyeong percussionists. The National Gosu Competition is the only nationwide single-division competition focused on gosu and is regarded as the most prestigious event for percussion accompanists aspiring to be the nation's top masters.

In the final, where seven Daemyeong gosu finalists vied for the title, Gong performed gobeop accompaniment to the "Jebinojeonggi" passage from Heungboga, as performed by Master Lee Nan-cho — the episode in which the swallow that had gone to Gangnam returns to Heungbo's house carrying Mr. Beom-pyo Park — and earned near-perfect scores from the audience and the seven judges.

Gong said, "More than the joy of winning the Presidential Award, I feel a resolve to build on this achievement by developing the Gong Do-sun style of gobeop and redoubling my efforts to train successors. I will continue to devote myself to my pansori studies from the university and graduate school and strive to open a new horizon for traditional Korean music as one of the country's leading gugak artists."

Gong studied gobeop in 1996 under Master Chu Jeong-nam, a designated gobeop intangible cultural asset (Jeonnam Intangible Cultural Property No. 29), and later received instruction from masters Lee Seong-geun, Jo Yong-an, and Jeong Cheol-ho. She graduated from JBNU's Department of Korean Music (Pansori Major) and completed her master's degree at JBNU's graduate school in 2011.