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.

Foreign Orchestras Cancel Korean Tours

Amid the financial downturn, several big overseas orchestras scheduled to perform in South Korea this year have CANCELLED, boohoo:

• April: Radio France Philharmonic Orchestra with maestro Chung Myung-whun called it quits; also cancelled Japan tour
• May: Korean sponsors uninvited thePittsburgh Symphony due to the terrible exchange rate.
• October: Cincinnati Symphony's Korean debut with flutist Choi Na-kyung is cancalled; also called off Taiwan tour, but Japan tour remains intact. Facing financial troubles, the American ensemble was forced to cut 20 percent from salaries for orchestra members, said Vincero, the local concert organizer.
• December: Dmitiri Kitajenko-led Vienna Symphonywithdrew plans to tour Korea and China.

Until recently, orchestra performances were the cream of the crop among classical concerts here, as they often attracted generous corporate sponsorship and high ticket sales. But such concerts are now a mounting concern for organizers, as unfavorable exchange rates raise guarantees and airfare, while corporate sponsorship and profits are dwindling.

Last fall, in spite of successful ticket sales and positive reviews, organizers of the La Scala Opera Theater Orchestra and Los Angeles Philharmonic concerts suffered a deficit due to the weak won. As various Asian tours are being called off, European and North American orchestras and music management agencies are also suffering.

But!

Tours by the Northern Sinfonia, led by Thomas Zehetmair featuring pianist Lim Dong-hyek as soloist on March 29, and the Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra, with violinist Kwun Hyuk-joo on April 16, remain intact.

Concertgoers can also look forward to performances by domestic troupes such as the Seoul Philharmonic, KBS Symphony and Bucheon Philharmonic Orchestra, among others. Seoul Arts Center is hosting the Orchestra Festival all throughout April.

Vote for YouTube Symphony Orchestra Finalists

Six South Korean finalists that might make the YouTube Symphony Orchestra.

Video-sharing Web site YouTube is inviting netizens to choose members of the world's first online orchestra project, YouTube Symphony Orchestra. A total of 200 finalists, including six South Koreans, have been chosen. Online votes continue through 2 p.m., Feb. 23 (local time) for the selection of 80 members who will perform at Carnegie Hall, New York, in April.

Last December, YouTube called for professional and amateur musicians of all ages, locations and instruments to audition via a video performance of ``Internet Symphony Eroica,'' a new piece written for the occasion by the renowned Chinese composer Tan Dun.

Over 4,000 video clips from some 70 countries were submitted. A judging panel of established musicians selected the 200 finalists. The top 80 to win the most votes from netizens will have the chance to make a three-day trip to New York and perform under the direction of Michael Tilson Thomas, music director of the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra.

Of the finalists, six Koreans represent the largest group from the Asia Pacific region. Comprising a cellist, violinist, cymbalist, snare drummer, vibraphonist and percussionist, they are the fifth largest group after 93 American finalists, eight Germans, eight Spaniards and seven Russians.

Popular Korean and Korean-American artists such as cellist Han-na Chang, pianist Lim Dong-hyek and violist Richard Yongjae O'Neill showed enthusiasm for the project in video messages. International superstar Lang Lang and local cosmetics brand Amore Pacific, among others, are sponsoring the event.Visit www.youtube.com/symphonykr (Korean) or www.youtube.com/symphony (English) to vote.

Korea, ASEAN to Launch Folk Orchestra

Korea and 10 member nations of the Association of Southeast Asian Countries (ASEAN) signed an agreement Friday to establish an international folk music orchestra during the 2008 ASEAN-Korea Meeting on Cultural Collaboration Projects in Seoul and Gwangju.

Korea and ASEAN countries ― Brunei Darussalem, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam ― will form an ensemble that harmonizes instruments ethnic to each culture, bringing together the gayageum (12-string zither) from Korea, the Serunai (pipe) from Brunei and the ozi (long drum) from Myanmar, among others.

``We are seeking to further strengthen our friendship and cooperation through cultural coexistence, so as to increase mutual understanding and create stronger ties for the future,'' said Kim Jang-sil, vice minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism, at the Seoul meeting, Thursday.

President of Chung-Ang University Park Bum-hun, who founded and conducted the world's first Asian music ensemble, the Orchestra Asia, in 1993, gave congratulatory remarks.

``I believe that today's meeting is the first step in realizing my dream,'' said Park. ``Unfortunately, unlike Western music, Asian music is not as well known or loved among people in other parts of the world. The reason is probably because we still bind Asian music in the name of tradition, and fail to make Asian music more accessible to the general public,'' he said, adding that the ASEAN-Korea orchestra will be a stepping stone in developing traditional music, helping it to become more in line with changing global trends while still preserving the values unique to each music culture.

One way to facilitate this process of globalization is industrializing the digitalization of traditional Asian music, said Choi Sang-wha, Chung-Ang University professor and president of the Korean Classical Music Digital Research Association. >>More