SAC Hosts Orchestra Festival Throughout April

Classical music aficionados may be disappointed by the cancellation of tours by many foreign orchestras, but performances by domestic troupes will be in full swing throughout April with the Seoul Arts Center’s annual Orchestra Festival featuring 17 top Korean ensembles.

Violinist Stefan Jackiw
/Courtesy of Seoul Arts Center

The 2009 program will take place April 3-21, beginning with the Bucheon Philharmonic Orchestra. The opening night will feature violinist Stefan Jackiw, a noted Korean-American artist who is known here as a member of the popular chamber group Ditto and as the grandson of the famed writer Pi Cheon-deuk. The 17-day relay concert will continue with performances by a different orchestra each day.

This year marks the 20th anniversary of the event, which began in 1989 with the opening of the center’s Concert Hall. It has developed into a major music festival that gathers top national artists in one place.

Expectations for the event are high, as top musicians will appear as soloists for concertos ranging from Brahms to Beethoven and Berlioz. Future leaders of classical music will participate, including up-and-coming pianist Kim Tae-hyung (Daejeon Philharmonic, April 4); cellist Koh Bong-ihn (Jeonju Philharmonic, April 5), who is balancing a medical career at Harvard with playing alongside artists like Yo Yo Ma; and Lim Dong-min, who is a star pianist here along with his brother Dong-hyek (Suwon Philharmonic, April 17).

Conductor Yeo Ja-kyung
/Courtesy of Seoul Arts Center

Also notable is that a prominent female conductor, Yeo Ja-kyung, has been invited to lead the KBS Symphony Orchestra, April 16, which is a first for the event. Other maestros such as Kim Hong-je (Ulsan Philharmonic, April 8), Jesus Amigo (Gyeonggi Philharmoinc, April 11) and Baldur Bronnimann (Seoul Philharmonic, April 13), will take the baton. Child-prodigy-turned-maestro pianist Ian Yung-wook Yoo will close the festival with the Busan Philharmonic, led by Alexander Anissimov, April 21.

For the first decade, the event helped to promote the growth of classical music in Korea, and the last decade was devoted to enhancing the performance level of individual musicians. In doing so, new talents across the country were discovered and these musicians matured and developed their own musical color over the years.

As such, two newcomers selected through the Guest Players Audition ― violinist Kim Hyun-gi and bassoonist Lee Min-ho ― will appear with the Seoul Philharmonic, April 13, and Changwon Philharmonic, April 14, respectively.

The performances will take place at the Concert Hall of the Seoul Arts Center. Tickets cost from 10,000 won to 30,000 won. Discounts are available for members of the Seoul Arts Center as well as for students and group reservations. For more information on the event, call (02) 580-1300 or visit www.sac.or.kr/eng (English).

Pianist Lim Dong-min Turns New Page in Career

Mr. Lim is very talented, of course.... but very taciturn... it makes it rather difficult to interview him, but a musician's music speaks louder than a thousand words trying to describe it.

Pianist Lim Dong-min is opening a new chapter in his career, with the release of his first solo album and appointment to a teaching position at Keimyung University. The 28-year-old is going from student to associate professor _ skipping the usual six-year route _ and has painted his first self-portrait ``Beethoven’’ packaged nicely by Sony BMG.

One would expect such an artist would have much to say. Some musicians are vocal about their art, while others allow their work to speak for itself _ and Lim seems to be the latter.

``I don’t have any particular thoughts,’’ Lim commented about completing his album in an interview with The Korea Times. He brings Beethoven’s Sonata No. 31, Op. 110, Sonata No. 14, Op. 27 ``Moonlight’’ and No. 23, Op. 56 ``Appassionata.’’

``I felt at ease while recording,’’ he said about recording in New York, where he currently resides. Max Wilcox, a Grammy Award-winning producer who has worked on Beethoven recording with piano greats like Artur Rubinstein and Richard Goode, took charge. Lim received lessons from Goode himself while studying at Mannes Music School in New York. ``(Wilcox) was quite resolute about what he wanted, but I agreed that it was best to be faithful to the composer’s intentions,’’ he said.

Lim’s rendition of No. 31 _ beautiful, rollicking phrasings flowing freely within an austere traditional cadre _ seems to be the voice for the taciturn pianist.

The pianist’s choice of Beethoven marks a turn away from his reputation as a Chopin specialist. ``I wanted to try something new and not be trapped in the Chopin repertoire,’’ he said. He selected every pianist’s childhood favorites ``Moonlight’’ and its usual counterpart ``Appassionata.’’ He added No. 31 because he wanted to play one of Beethoven’s later works that foreshadow the Romantic period. Moreover, he simply plays what he likes. His will be recording a couple more CDs with Sony, perhaps Schubert or Beethoven, but he has no intention to do a full cycle of Beethoven’s sonatas. ``We’ll have to see,’’ he said. ``But I would like to give Bach a try since I have never played his pieces,’’ he added after a slight pause.

This isn’t Lim’s first CD. He has recordings of his 15th International Chopin Competition-winning performances (Victor, 2006). Sharing the third prize at the prestigious Warsaw event with his younger brother Dong-hyek elevated them both to stardom, and accepting the position at Keimyung University, which houses the Chopin Academy of Music & Performing Arts, was a natural choice. ``I don’t think of it as a big burden or anything. I simply want to deliver what I learned,’’ he said.

Having started the piano at a relatively late age of nine, Lim’s rapid development took him abroad to Russia’s Moscow State Tchaikovsky Conservatory and Germany’s Hanover Hochscule fur Music. ``I started playing the piano because everyone did at the time,’’ he said, and he didn’t dislike it. ``Music,’’ he said, ``is just one method of expressing yourself.’’

Lim in a way, almost demystifies the magical aura that often shrouds musicians and the creative process of music making. He doesn’t listen to classical music 24 hours a day _ in fact he doesn’t even have a stereo at his New York apartment. Having grown up as a fan of Michael Jackson, he spends his free time tuning into Korean drama soundtracks.

The media spotlight and attention of thousands of fans don’t bother him either. ``I don’t really pay attention to fans. I don’t mind the press, either,’’ he said, not with haughty or bemused indifference but unfaltering honesty _ perhaps a reflection of the instrumental clarity and clean, white sound of his ``Moonlight’’ sonata.

Lim celebrates the release of his first solo album with a recital at Seoul Arts Center, Sept. 28. He will play Sonatas No. 31 and 23 as well as Listz’s Sonata in B Minor, S. 178. Tickets cost from 30,000 won to 70,000 won. Call (02) 599-5743.