Chung demands new hall for Seoul Phil
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Conductor Chung Myung-whun walks to the podium as the Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra face the audience following a performance during a New Year’s concert at the Sejong Center for the Performing Arts on Jan. 5. / Courtesy of the Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra
By Kwon Ji-youn
Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra (SPO) music director Chung Myung-whun said he has not yet renewed his contract with the SPO, and he will only do so if certain requisites are guaranteed by the Seoul Municipal Government (SMG).
Speaking at a press conference Monday in the SPO rehearsal room in the Sejong Center for the Performing Arts, Chung said he will only renew his contract this year if SMG promises to build a music hall for the SPO, as well as providing its wholehearted support.
“The SPO’s program from January through December has already been set, so technically I’ve extended my contract with the SPO,” said Chung, who provisionally agreed to remain as the SPO’s music director for one year following the resignation of CEO Park Hyun-jung. “But the construction of an SPO music hall and the support of the city are absolute musts.”
Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra (SPO) music director Chung Myung-whun speaks during a press conference at the SPO rehearsal room in the Sejong Center for the Performing Arts, Monday. / Yonhap
Chung and the SPO, now ten years old, held the press conference to announce its plans for 2015, which include 75 concerts this year. These include international tours and 38 annual performances, and of these, the SPO will focus primarily on reinforcing outreach concerts and a U.S. tour set for April.
Though the city has cut the orchestra’s budget yet again this year, Chung stressed that the U.S. tour must proceed for the development of the SPO.
“The municipal government has continued to cut the SPO’s annual budget over the last three years, but if this continues, the SPO will not evolve,” Chung said. “In truth, we should be putting on three times the number of concerts we hold yearly, but the Seoul Arts Center is not always available. If I am to take responsibility for the SPO as its music director, there needs to be hope for improvement and progress.”
His hope for the SPO this year is to go beyond being simply Asia’s best.
“The orchestra has developed incredibly over the years, and I’d like to take a moment to thank our members,” he said. “Asia’s best orchestras had been those based in Japan, but the SPO is now level with them, talent-wise. I hope the SPO will now prove itself to be a truly magnificent orchestra across the world.”
The SPO is recovering from friction that ensued last year surrounding CEO Park’s mistreatment of employees. Seventeen employees of the SPO’s administrative department issued a press release last December requesting her removal and an internal investigation into her conduct.
Park had rebutted the claims that she had verbally and sexually abused her subordinates at a follow-up press conference, where she alleged Chung was behind the petition seeking her dismissal. She claimed that Chung had run the SPO like a private organization, and questioned the legitimacy of the music director’s annual salary.
To this, Chung said that the question should be redirected to those providing the pay.
“The SPO is private only in the sense that the members are like family to me,” he said. “When I accepted the post of music director, it was on an understanding that I would only interfere with the musical direction of the SPO, and not its management. I put together the program, and I sit in on auditions. I did ask for a room on the sixth floor. I needed that room to study.
“With regards to pay, the question should be cast to those who are paying me,” he continued. “In truth, the dispute should not be about how much I receive _ it should be about whether the public is getting its money’s worth with my conducting of the SPO. They say they are which makes this question a silly one.”
Follow Kwon Ji-youn on Twitter @jennajykwon