Korean Ensembles in Belgian Fest
By Lee Hyo-won
Staff Reporter
Two leading local groups, the Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra and Ensemble TIMF, will participate in the International Brussels Music Festival (KlaraFestival) at the end of August.
Opening its sixth year in the European Union capital, the young, thriving event brings together not only high-caliber classical artists, but jazz and electronic musicians as well.
The Seoul Philharmonic, led by Maestro Chung Myung-whun, will perform Aug. 31 at Salle Henry le Boeuf, Palais des Beaux-Arts. This is the first time a South Korean symphony orchestra has been invited to a European festival.
``It will be a wonderful opportunity for the Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra to establish its reputation overseas,'' said an ensemble spokesperson in a statement. The orchestra has often performed overseas in the past, including the United Nations Headquarters and Carnegie Hall in New York, but mainly for diplomatic purposes.
The Belgian festival is special in that it is strictly a musical engagement, with the orchestra performing alongside other premier ensembles such as the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra under the baton of Maestro Charles Dutoit, featuring piano great Martha Argerich; and the Swedish Radio Orchestra & Choir, led by rising star conductor Daniel Harding and veterans Esa-Pekka Salonen and Valery Gergiev.
The Seoul Philharmonic's program will include ``Mad Tea Party'' from ``Alice in Wonderland,'' the award-winning opera by the orchestra's composer-in-residence, Unsuk Chin.
Piano prodigy Kim Sun-wook, who recently debuted at Carnegie Hall, will appear with orchestra to perform Bartok's Piano Concerto No. 3. Maestro Chung, who was the darling of Paris operagoers during his tenure at Opera Bastille, will lead the group in other French works, including Debussy's ``La Mer'' and Ravel's ``La Valse.''
To commemorate its European festival debut, the Seoul Philharmonic will perform locally Aug. 21 at Seoul Arts Center. Pianist Son Yeol-eum, who recently took the silver medal at the prestigious Van Cliburn Competition, will take the place of Kim. Tickets cost from 10,000 to 70,000 won. Call (02) 3700-6300.
On Sept. 5, Ensemble TIMF, the proud face of the Tongyeong International Music Festival, held annually in South Gyeongsang Province, will perform several new pieces at the Brussels event. The program includes a solo work for ``gayageum'' (Korean zither) by Belgian composer Baudouin de Jaer, a contemporary composition by Malaysian Kee Yong Chong, and a staple work of German avant-garde by Isang Yun, in whose honor TIMF named its annual international festival.
Another East Asian group joining the KlaraFestival is the Hong Kong Chinese Orchestra, which performs contemporary and classical Chinese works on traditional instruments.
For more information about KlaraFestival visit www.klarafestival.be.