Anna Jiwon Park has been covering the politics at The Korea Times since the summer of 2024, when she joined the press pool for the Office of the President in Korea. Prior to that, she spent about five years reporting extensively on financial markets, regulatory authorities and the financial industry. She joined The Korea Times in 2019 after spending eight years as a broadcast journalist at Arirang TV, Korea’s leading global broadcaster, covering politics, defense and culture.
30th Eagon concert features guest musicians from the Berlin Philharmonic
Berlin Philharmonic Eagon Ensemble plays Grieg's "The Holberg Suite” during a press conference in Seoul, Wednesday. Courtesy of Eagon
By Anna J. Park
By Anna J. Park
Don't miss out on the rare chance to listen to a world-class classical music ensemble for free in Korea.
Ten musicians from the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra and two other guest musicians, cellist Tatjana Vassiljeva and organist Christian Rieger, began their free concert series here in Korea on Friday. They have six concerts in various cities, including Seoul, Incheon, Gwangju and Busan, and the Korea tour will finish in Daegu on July 11.
Marking the 30th installment of the annual Eagon concert, the Seoul-headquartered construction material company Eagon has invited the musicians to perform for the free concerts, aiming to spread classical music to those who usually do not get a chance to listen to music at concert halls.
The concert series is filled with some of the most famous classical masterpieces, such as Vivaldi's “The Four Seasons,” Bach's “Air from Orchestral Suite No.3,” and Grieg's “The Holberg Suite.” As for an encore piece, the musicians will play “Arirang Fantasie,” an original composition based on melodies of Korea's traditional song “Arirang.”
The musicians have decided to play together under the banner of “Berlin Philharmonic Eagon Ensemble” just for this free concert series only. Out of the 12 invited musicians, 10, including Luiz Filip Coelho, Andre Schoch, Romano Tommasini and Wolfgang Talirz, are current members of the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra's chamber music group Camerata. Within the Berlin Phil, there are over 30 chamber ensemble groups freely formed on their own among the orchestra members, and Camerata is one of them.
“I think this is one of the privileges we have in this orchestra, that we have best working conditions which allow us to form many chamber music groups. I think that's the key of our secrets to be nourished in the orchestra as with chamber music ― you always improve as a musician,” Luiz Filip Coelho of the Berlin Phil said during a press conference held earlier this week in Seoul.
Berlin Philharmonic Eagon Ensemble members play Tartini's "Trumpet Concerto in D Major" during a press conference in Seoul, Wednesday. Courtesy of Eagon