KT&G (CEO Bak Bok-in) is recruiting participants for 'Imagination Univ. Audition 2023', targeting university students nationwide (including those on leave of absence), who aspire to be the next generation of musicians, until July 11th.

'Imagination Univ. Audition' is a support program for discovering university students with a passion and talent for music, which started in 2020 and is now in its fourth year. It aims to support students who have a passion and talent for music to grow into future musicians. Last year, a total of 391 teams and 4,784 students participated, engaging in fierce competition, and the cumulative views of related YouTube videos reached a total of 1.27 million.

University students who wish to participate in the audition can submit a video file containing an original composition or a reinterpretation of a song through the Imagination Univ. website ( www.sangsanguniv.com ). This year's audition will recruit participants by region, unlike in previous years, and the final stages will be held in three regions: Seoul, Daejeon, and Changwon.

The recruitment of participating teams will be divided by the location of the university, and after the regional preliminaries and regional finals, a total of 30 teams, with 10 teams from each region, will be selected. The preliminaries and finals will be conducted through video judging, with judges such as 'Jiteun,' 'Kim Ju-hwan,' and 'Misty' participating. The final 30 teams selected will have the opportunity to improve their skills through one-on-one mentoring with the judges and joint performances with professional bands.

After the mentoring, the final competition stage for the teams that advance to the regional finals will take place in Seoul, Daejeon, and Changwon in September. The final rankings will be determined by the evaluations of the judging panel and the audience on the day of the competition, and the first-place team from each region will be awarded a prize of 2 million won, 1 million won for second place, and 500,000 won for third place, for a total prize money of 18 million won.

Lee Si-hyung, Head of Univ. Operation at KT&G, stated, "Imagination Univ. Audition is an innovative cultural and artistic program by Imagination Univ. for university students aspiring to be the next generation of musicians." He added, "I hope that the participating students will be able to realize their dreams through expert mentoring and stage experience."

(Photo description) Poster for the recruitment of participants for ‘Imagination Univ. Audition 2023’