Seoul Arts Center Orchestra Fest Ends Tuesday

Seoul Arts Center’s 20th Orchestra Festival comes to a close with the Busan Philharmonic Orchestra (above), Tuesday, after three weeks of live, inspired music. Grand symphonic melodies filled the hall almost every night as maestri and soloists joined 16 of the country’s top ensembles. Each concert, almost always fully packed, was broadcast live on KBS FM radio.

The annual event brought internationally feted conductors in concert, including Spanish maestro Jesus Amigo; Baldur Bronnimann, the new principal conductor of the Colombian National Symphony; and Korean-Japanese helmer Kim Hong-je.

Youthful verve and virtuosity reigned, as young, up and coming musicians graced the stage.

On the opening night April 3, the Bucheon Philharmonic, led by maestro Choi Hee-chuhn, greeted concertgoers with a roar. Having worked with the Gyeonggi Province troupe for the opera ``L’Elisir d’Amore,’’ the Germany-based conductor inspired full bursting colors, which complimented the sweet melody of soloist Stefan Jackiw in Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto in E Minor. Two evenings later, scientist-cellist Koh Bong-ihn gave a silver-toned rendition of the Elgar Concerto while playing with his birth town’s Jeonju Symphony.

Another sell-out program was Friday’s event featuring the Suwon Philharmonic with pianist-conductor Kim Dae-jin and young pianist Lim Dong-min. While Lim told The Korea Times that he wasn’t happy with the performance, saying the harmony with the orchestra was far from perfect in the first movement of Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 1, he showed why he is one of the country’s most popular young artists with the crystalline tones in the singsong second movement.

The festival was also a special occasion for instruments such as the bassoon and harp to shine in the solo spot. It also gave an opportunity for new talent to take the big stage, including two young musicians selected through an open audition.

While there is no concert tonight, the Busan Philharmonic Orchestra will conclude the festival Tuesday with Alexander Anissimov at the baton. The honored Russian maestro, currently the principal conductor of the troupe, presents a program of Tchaikovsky, including ``Spanish Dance’’ from ``Swan Lake’’ and Symphony No. 4. Pianist Ian Yung-wook Yoo, who was featured in The Korea Times' 2008 Next Generation Classical Musician series, will appear as soloist for Piano Concerto No. 1. Tickets cost from 10,000 won to 30,000 won. Call (02) 580-1301.