Australian Chamber Orchestra to perform in Seoul Thursday

By John Redmond

As part of the 29th Korean International Music Festival, the Australian Chamber Orchestra (ACO) will be holding the Korea-Australia 50th Anniversary Amity Concert at Seoul Arts Center on Oct. 6.

Four members of the ACO will also hold a special free mini concert for disabled children at the Ceramic Palace Art Hall on Oct. 5.

Beginning at 3 p.m. and lasting 30 minutes, 18 children and workers from the orphanage Give Out Love along with up to seven representatives from AustCham and 12 sponsors will attend the concert and have a chance to be photographed with ACO members.

The ACO was founded by cellist John Painter in 1975 and is led by the charismatic Richard Tognetti, who performs on a rare $10 million Guarneri Del Gesu violin. He is also artistic director.

The works to be performed on Oct. 6 include pieces by Jakob Ludwig Felix Mendehlsson Bartholdy, George Friedrich Handel, Antonio Vivaldi and Pyotrllyich Tchaikovsky.

The concert that begins at 8 p.m. will feature Korean harp soloist HyunSun Na.

Tickets cost from 39,000 to 100,000 won.