Now In Korea
New Year Concerts Bring Hope and Music Across Korea
Creatrip Team
2 months ago
In January, public theaters and orchestras across Korea hold annual New Year concerts celebrating hope and vitality with mostly bright repertoires. Major Seoul events include simultaneous concerts on Jan 7 at Seoul Arts Center and Sejong Center. The Seoul Arts Center program (hosted by the Ministry of Culture) features KBS Symphony under Hong Seok-won, premieres the award-winning composer Choi Woo-jung’s work “Sujecheon Resounds” (수제천), and soloists and choirs performing orchestral pieces, OSTs from the drama “Poksak Soksatda” and the animation “K-pop Demon Hunters,” and Korean art songs. Sejong’s concert opens the “Everyone’s Classical” (누구나 클래식) social program, which lets audiences choose ticket prices (1,000–10,000 won) and program selections; the season opener features the Gyeonggi Philharmonic led by Kim Seong-wook with pianist Sunwoo Yekwon performing Beethoven’s Fifth and Rachmaninoff Piano Concerto No.2. On Jan 9, the National Gugak Orchestra presents new works including “Arirang, Three Breaths” (commemorating the 100th anniversary of the film Arirang), plus traditional and contemporary gugak (Korean traditional music) pieces with gayageum prodigy Kim Young-rang and star singers; the Seoul Philharmonic, conducted by Jaap van Zweden, features pianist Rudolf Buchbinder in Gershwin’s Piano Concerto, Schubert’s Unfinished Symphony, and Respighi’s Pines of Rome. On Jan 11 the National Symphony’s New Year concert marks the inauguration of music director Roberto Abbado with works by Respighi, Verdi and Rossini. The National Gugak Center stages a New Year gugak gala on Jan 22 with court music, dance and an all-cast Arirang chorus. Finally, a Jan 29 concert at Seoul Arts Center by the KBS Symphony, presented by Daewon Foundation, spotlights “Tchaikovsky Night” with Symphony No.4 and the Violin Concerto featuring young talents Yoon Han-gyeol and violinist Kim Seo-hyun. These concerts mix classical, contemporary and traditional Korean music, highlighting collaborations between star soloists, orchestras and cross-genre programming.
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