Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität Münster

11/03/2023 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 11/03/2023 06:35

Music student Daehyeon Kang receives DAAD Prize

Vice-Rector Prof. Michael Quante (left) and Prof. Koh Gabriel Kameda from Münster University of Music congratulate prize-winner Daehyeon Kang. © Uni MS - MünsterView

Music student Daehyeon Kang receives DAAD Prize

Korean honoured for his social engagement and his artistic achievements

Daehyeon Kang has been awarded the 2023 DAAD Prize by the Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst (German Academic Exchange Service) for his social and intercultural engagement as well as for his artistic achievements. A Korean by birth, Kang has been studying Music and Creativity, majoring in violin, at Münster University of Music since 2019. In addition to receiving a variety of awards and achieving successes in competitions, Kang won over the jury of the International Office as a result of looking beyond his own subject and the academic world and demonstrating engagement in a wide variety of multifaceted, high-profile encounters. "Your engagement shows that what is important to you is not only that you are successful in music, but also that you are able to find the time to be active on behalf of intercultural exchange," said Prof Michael Quante, Vice-Rector for International Affairs, Transfer and Sustainability, during the award ceremony in the "Botanicum - Centre for Student Affairs". "I hope," he added, "that in future, in addition to your appearances in concert halls all over the world, you will return to Münster to give concerts at our University."

Daehyeon Kang revived the Kammerensemble Münster (Münster Chamber Ensemble), which consists primarily of international students and which, since the Corona pandemic, had no longer had any platform on which to present its artistry. In addition, Kang collaborated with Prof. Koh Gabriel Kameda from Münster University of Music to initiate a "Korean Day", where the ensemble performed with the Korean Marte Symphony Orchestra. Since 2022 Kang has acted as the Artistic Director of the Echo Ensemble, which gives concerts all over Germany. His aim is to give people outside the academic world the opportunity to experience music and to increase their understanding of it despite their cultural variety. For Kang, music is a means of enabling exchanges to take place across geographical and cultural boundaries. The success of the Korean Day motivated him to set up a Korean-German students association with the aim of developing exchanges between the two nationalities - also independently of music.

The DAAD Prize for outstanding achievements on the part of international students at German universities is worth 1,000 euros and has been awarded for more than ten years now. The aim of the award is to provide a signal that foreign students are an enrichment for universities. Through the award, the University of Münster also expresses its recognition of the contribution made by international students to the University and to society as a whole.

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