97 Tubas Later: Lessons from Jeju

The Jeju International Brass and Percussion Competition welcomes competitors from across the world to the small, South Korean island every August. Featuring a live first round followed by second and final rounds, the schedule also allows competitors time to interact with festival faculty through masterclasses and performances, and to hear guest ensembles in concert. Held at various locations, the competition allows visitors to experience stellar university facilities and attend both indoor and outdoor performances across the week.

The 2026 competition accepted 97 tuba registrants from 12 different countries. A few had changes in plans, and the rest arrived to participate in Jeju. The group performed Anthony Plog’s Three Miniatures (Editions BIM) in the opening first round, accompanied by a top-notch team of piano collaborators. Anna Segal’s Incantation was a required work for the second round, alongside a competitor choice between Edward Gregson’s Alarum (Gramercy Music), Elizabeth Raum’s Sweet Dances (Tuba Euphonium Press), and Krzysztof Penderecki’s Capriccio (Schott). The final round work was the classic Ralph Vaughan Williams’ Tuba Concerto (Oxford), with the winner performing the orchestral version at the finale concert.

The competition showcased the strong level of tuba playing now being achieved across the world, and brought several lessons which can benefit us all.

1. A wide variety of instruments are being played with success. Large and small, old and new, the competition brought a reminder there is no one perfect instrument choice.
2. Musicality is the main event. The occasional missed notes or moments of confusion fade in the presence of strong melodic direction and spirit. The best performances were not note-perfect, and blended control with gusto in just the right way. 97 tubas later, the soloists who stood out had a strong understanding of their storytelling task and were willing to take risk, holding nothing back.
3. Stage presence was a highlight. Competitors took the stage dressed professionally, executing respectful bows, acknowledging their piano collaborators, and calmly dealing with chairs, stands, tablets, foot pedals, and the occasional falling sheets of music. Competitions are awkward. Walking onto stage in dead silence, and then playing your heart out to be greeted by more dead silence, is very strange. Especially for the generations who have grown up with their schooling interrupted by the Covid-19 pandemic, and who must manage today’s increased online pressures, social interactions can be an additional learning curve. It was inspiring to see these young people navigating the strangeness of the competition performance audition with such success.
4. The importance of this cultural interaction cannot be understated. For these competitors, who navigated international travel and a typhoon which occurred shortly after the start of the festival, to interact with such a wide variety of peers was surely life-changing. These performers joined together in a rare event, an international gathering focused solely on the creative arts, which promoted intercultural collaboration and positive growth. In today’s fractured political climate, this emphasis on joining together instead of highlighting difference is the most important aspect of this festival experience.

Our brave and accomplished competitors remind us to continue to center the following in our personal practice, and musical work.

1. Clarity of tongue and slur continues to challenge. Articulated passages, and clearly connected lyrical phrases under a slur, often fall short of success. What materials do we include in our daily practice which place us into these situations? How do we practice correctly communicating the written articulation in various spaces, including larger performance halls? Do we fully value the importance of being faithful to the articulation within the works we perform? Gathering peers to play for, and recording our work, is a great way to confirm we are getting results out in the hall.
2. Steady rhythmic pulse and careful subdivision set a select few competitors apart from the rest. Generally, we all need to continue to center these two aspects of time, working so that our tempo changes are intentional and musically driven. Practicing with the metronome clicking the eighth note is the perfect prescription.
3. Larger connection of musical style and dynamic contrast across multi-movement works is another practice goal. An articulation style or dynamic marking present in one area of a larger work must be returned to faithfully in other areas to provide continuity. Balance between all present dynamics must be accounted for across the work at large. A mezzo forte dynamic marking may not be all that soft in a work which includes multiple lower dynamic levels. Articulation style must be returned the same way for similar passages across the work, unless marked differently. Do we practice full run-throughs often enough? We all benefit from recording and study across longer passages, to address large-scale continuity.
4. Increased geographic representation holds hope for the future. The repertoire included more composer variety, and the competitors themselves brought increased diversity, though continued improvement is key. A new generation of young women is taking the stage, and the importance of continuing experiential learning opportunities such as this cannot be understated. New experiences are key next steps for all of us.

Best wishes to everyone who played, and a special thanks to my fellow judges:

Pablo Fernández (Barcelona, Spain and Aarhus, Denmark)

Chloe Higgins (Perth, Australia)

Yang Yi (Wuhan, China)

Kiyoshi Sato (Tokyo, Japan)

Yoo Kyungseok (Seoul, South Korea)

Anne Jelle Visser (Zurich and Lucerne, Switzerland)

…for a delightful week in Jeju.

97 tubas later the state of the world is full of hope!

Joanna