Chungs promise bigger, better chamber music program

Great Mountains Music Fest due in Gangwon Province from July 24 to Aug. 13

By Lee Hyo-won

Cellist Chung Myung-wha and violinist Chung Kyung-wha, who rose to international prominence in the Chung Trio with pianist brother Myung-whun, will revive their chamber music magic this summer in Korea.

In addition to playing together onstage for the first time in six years, the sisters will bring new leadership to the Great Mountains Music Festival & School (GMMFS) as its co-artistic directors. The 8th edition of the annual chamber music event will run from July 24 to Aug. 13 at the Alpensia Resort, Gangwon Province, and will invite both seasoned artists and budding young talent for 55 programs and master classes.

The gifted duo expressed confidence in continuing to develop the event, hitherto led by violinist-professor Hyo Kang, to a world-class standing.

“This year’s program has become larger in scale,” Myung-wha told reporters in Seoul, Tuesday, with an increase in the number of programs and participating students. “The GMMFS envisions becoming a top chamber music festival in the world and the music featured should be of the highest caliber while the program needs to be creative.”

“The festival still has a long way to go in terms of development, and I will use my knowledge and experience the best I can to make the festival successful. It is a great joy to work with my sister for a music festival in my home country,” said Kyung-wha, in one of her rare appearances before the press.

The festival, which opens under a comprehensive theme each year, will this time be dubbed “Illumination”.

It will showcase works that revered composers wrote when they dealt with old age or illness. Highlights of the two-and-a-half week

program include Mozart’s haunting deathbed “Requiem” and other late works by composers such as Schubert’s Quintet in C Major and Mendelssohn’s rarely heard String Quintet No. 2.

“The theme sheds light upon how life experiences of joy and fury, sorrow and happiness, illness, frustration and resentment inspired musicians and how they harnessed these to artistic ends to produce profound masterpieces,” said Myung-wha.

Kyung-wha is no stranger to the trials of illness, having recently returned to the stage after years of nursing an injury.

“I was unable to perform for five years because I hurt my hand. My mother used to say how missing the train is a blessing in disguise... I’ve learned so much while leading an ordinary life off the stage. I was able to reflect on my life as an artist,” the violinist said, adding that she was looking forward to performing with her sister and pianist Kevin Kenner.

The three will take the stage on July 29 for Brahms’ Piano Trio No. 1 in B major, Op. 8 as part of the festival’s Distinguished Artists Series at the Alpensia Concert Hall.

This year also invites Sung Shi-yeon, associate conductor of the Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra and former assistant conductor of the Boston Symphony Orchestra. She will lead the GMMFS Orchestra, comprising of local and overseas artists as well as festival scholarship students, for Mozart’s Overture to “The Magic Flute” and “Requiem.”

“This is my first time taking part in a local festival, other than working with the Seoul Philharmonic,” Sung said.

“It will be challenging to train a festival orchestra in a limited amount of time but it will be great for this festival which is opening a new chapter... We will be playing Sussmayr’s version of the “Requiem,” which Mozart sublimated his painful life into a religious but humane piece,” she said, adding that the natural mountainous scenery will add to the atmospheric music.

Other acclaimed participants include violinists Todd Phillips and Robert Diaz, cellist Karine Georgian and clarinetist Richard Stoltzman. Rising stars such as pianist Son Yeol-eum, violinist Shin Hyun-su, double bassist Sung Min-jae and violinist Kwun Hyuk-joo will perform.

Tickets range from 40,000 to 50,000 won. Reservations can be made online at www.gmmfs.com, www.clubbalcony.com or www.interpark.com.

For those who cannot make it to Gangwon Province, performances will be screened by the Han River. For more information about the festival call (02) 725-3394~5.