CreatripTeam

The Seocho Philharmonia Orchestra, led by artistic director and conductor Bae Jong-hoon, is launching a full cycle of Mozart piano concertos (27 works) while nearing completion of its six-year project to perform all 107 Haydn symphonies. Beginning with concerts on the 21st featuring pianists Lee Kyung-sook, Choi Ji-an and Han Woo-ri performing Mozart Piano Concertos No. 21, 2 and 26, the orchestra will present the concertos across nine programs through August next year. Lee Kyung-sook (b.1944), one of 25 soloists in the project, is celebrated in Korea for completing the first national cycles of Beethoven, Mozart and Prokofiev sonatas and for serving as the founding president of Korea National University of Arts; Bae praised her enduring technique. Bae said the Mozart series was chosen to match the Haydn symphony project as another monumental repertoire undertaking. Seocho-gu’s sustained support—unusual for a local (basic) government to host a resident professional orchestra—has been key to these ambitious programs. Bae says the ensemble will continue exploring major composers from Beethoven to Ligeti to uphold its reputation as a distinctive, adventurous orchestra.