A choir song composed by a professor at CNU's College of Medicine won first place in Germany's biggest competition.
 
The choir song “Surisuri Masuri,” composed by CNU Professor Kook Hyun (Department of Pharmacology), was performed unaccompanied by the Dortmund Youth Choir (conductor: Jeong Na-rae) at the choir competition held in Hannover, Germany on June 3 and claimed the prestigious 1st place position. 
 
The German Choir Competition, held once every four years, is a contest where representative choirs from different German states compete to showcase their skills. Winning choirs receive substantial support from the German federal government and perform numerous concerts representing Germany over the next four years. This year's competition was highly regarded, with approximately 4,000 participants from across Germany, and it was broadcasted by ZDF, Germany's largest public television broadcaster.

During this competition, "Surisuri Masuri" was requested to be performed again on the modern choir stage and during the award ceremony. The emcee also introduced the meaning of the Korean lyrics.

Furthermore, the piece will be performed once again at the concert commemorating the 140th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Korea and Germany, which will take place in early July at Konzerthaus in Berlin, known as the "dream stage." Previously, the composition was performed by the Dortmund Youth Choir at the NRW State Representative Competition in Germany last year and received the Special Award for Outstanding A Cappella.

Professor Kook is not only a prominent scholar in the field of cardiovascular disease treatment development, to the extent of being selected as a regular member of the Korean Academy of Science and Technology, but also serves as the president of the Korean Choir Composers Association.

He has been actively engaged in creative work, with his compositions winning awards in the Solo Composition category of the 54th Seoul Music Festival last year. His works have been widely performed in countries such as the United States, Spain, Germany, France, Canada, Lithuania, Italy, Macau, Japan, the Philippines, and Taiwan, contributing to the establishment of a new path for "K-Classical" and "K-Choir," which are considered a part of the Korean wave.