By Lee Hyo-won
Staff Reporter
The hills are alive with the sound of music at Pyeongchang, as the three-week long Great Mountains Music Festival & School (GMMFS) comes to a close Sunday. Since Aug. 3, musicians -- both renowned professionals and rising amateurs -- and classical music fans from around the world convened in YongPyong (Yongpyeong) Resort to celebrate musical colors and sound.
After being cancelled last year due to the monsoon, the Great Mountains Festival recommenced for its fourth run, bustling with music lessons and lectures for students by day and resonating with concerts featuring world-class artists by night.
The music festival and school drew 145 music students who had the chance to work with famed professionals, such as cello lessons with Aldo Parisot and Chung Myung-wha.
Betty Zhou, a ninth-year student studying violin at the Julliard Pre-College in New York, participated in the festival for the first time this year. The 17-year-old took part in lessons with celebrated violinist Igor Ozim, who currently teaches at the Mozarteum University in Salzburg, Austria, and violin master Kurt Sassmannshaus, a member of the faculty and board of the Aspen Music Festival & School.
``I've had the same teacher for eight years, so it was really exciting to work with different teachers,'' she told The Korea Times. ``I really liked both of them (Ozim and Sassmannshaus).''
For the past three years, Zhou has participated in the Aspen Festival, an international classical music festival and training camp in Colorado that GMMFS modeled itself after. ``This festival is smaller, but it's intimate. In Aspen, we stayed in small groups and didn't get to interact with others. But here, we all eat and sleep in the same area, and even the artists eat with us.''
``The performances (Distinguished Artists Series) were intense!'' she said.
The Distinguished Artists Series on Aug. 18, for example, featured a finely crafted program including Dvorak's Piano Trio in F minor, B. 130, op.65 by pianist Itamar Golan, violinist Kyoko Takezawa and cellist Chung Myung-hwa, and Ravel/Tognetti's String Quartet in F major by the Sejong Soloists, an international conductor-less chamber ensemble comprised of leading young soloists.
It was a sublime musical experience any classical music lover would have appreciated, hearing top-notch performances up-close in the intimate setting of Nunmaul Hall. With audiences comprising of music students, parents and musicians themselves, the combined intensity of the viewers and the dynamic performance onstage created a kinetic force like no other.
``I do what I love to do so I feel fortunate that music brings me to many parts of the world [to experience] different cultures and traditions and enabling me to add my own voice to the endless voices of humanity,'' pianist Itamar Golan was quoted as saying through the festival's organizer.
``This festival has a very nice general ambiance, good organization and things that have to be improved, I'm sure will be improved with time,'' he said.
Though still in the early stages of development, the Great Mountains Music Festival & School has achieved a large feat here trying the unprecedented, and continues to improve each year. While there is much room for improvement, it keeps people eagerly await next year's production.
Catch the final two performances this weekend: The Chuncheon Philharmonic Orchestra will perform with Ole Akahoshi as cello soloist, 7:30 p.m., Saturday, at Chuncheon Culture & Art Center.
On the last night of the festival Sunday, the Gangneung City Symphony Orchestra will play with accompaniment by Yang Ji-in (violin) and Richard Yongjae O'Neill (viola), 7:30 p.m. at Gangneung Arts & Culture Hall. Both concerts are free of charge.
To learn more about the festival, visit www.gmmfs.com or e-mail festival@gmmfs.com. For information about YongPyong Ski Resort and transportation guides, visit www.yongpyong.co.kr/eng (in English).