Korean Musicians to Grace New York Halls
By Lee Hyo-won
Staff Reporter
The Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra led by maestro Chung Myung-whun will perform in New York in commemoration of United Nations Day, Wednesday. The UN Day Concert will feature Korea's prima donna Shin Young-ok and tenor Yikun Chung.
Internationally acclaimed Chung Myung-whun will conduct the Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra UN Day concert series, which will begin with a performance on Tuesday evening at New York Presbyterian Church before the big night at UN General Assembly Hall.
Opera stars Shin Young-ok, winner of the New York Metropolitan's 1990 National Council Auditions, and Yikun Chung, named by German Opernwelt magazine as ``Young Tenor of the Year'' (2001), are expected to give stellar performances. The program includes not only pieces by Verdi and Brahms but also Korean classics such as ``Baetnorae'' by Jo Du-nam.
The concert celebrates the 62nd UN Day, which was inaugurated in 1947 as the anniversary of the implementation of the UN Charter. It is part of UN Week, which runs Oct. 20-26. It also honors the inauguration of UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon.
Along with Ban, some 1,600 guests including ambassadors and staff of 192 member states, the mayor of New York and American government officials are expected to attend the concert.
The Korean artists will give an additional performance at Carnegie Hall, Thursday.
Violinist Sung-joo Lee's New York Debut Fete
Korean-American violinist Lee Sung-joo, 52, will celebrate the 30th anniversary of her New York debut most appropriately at Carnegie Hall, Nov. 9. She launched her career in New York's Kaufman Hall in 1977 as a ``Young Concert Artists'' winner and was immediately recognized as a ``first rate violinist'' by the New York Times.
Lee has since captivated the world with her ``imaginative performance and clarity'' (Kolner Statdt-Anzeiger, Cologne, 1984) and ``impeccable technique'' (Il Gazzetino, Venice, 1984), as well as her ``taste for the dramatic and unflagging sense of authority'' (Los Angeles Times, 1981).
The repertoire for the special concert includes pieces by Grieg, Beethoven, Turina and Elgar. Lee will also stage the American premiere of ``Rhapsody for Violin and Piano'' by professor Lee Geon-yong, one of Korea's most celebrated modern composers. Pianist Cory Smyth, well known for her chamber performances in New York and across the U.S., will accompany Lee for the concert.
Lee was just a sophomore at Ewha Girl's Middle School when she decided to study in the United States in 1969, a time when studying abroad was extremely rare. She studied at the Juilliard School of Music in New York and also obtained her Ph.D there.
Lee then applied for U.S. citizenship in 1978 in order to participated in the prestigious Tchaikovsky Concours because no Korea-Russia diplomatic relations existed at the time. She won a special prize in the finals and became the second Korean-born artist to win any prize in the conservative competition after maestro Chung Myung-whun.
Lee went on to enter Belgium's Queen Elisabeth International Concours in 1980 and swept top prizes at Finland's Sibelius International Violin Concours, Washington's International Competition and New York's Wieniawski-Kosciuszko Violin Competition.
In 1994, she gave up her U.S. citizenship and returned to Korea. She now teaches at the Korea National University of Arts.
The concert is at 8 p.m., Friday, Nov. 9. Tickets cost $25. Visit www.carnegiehall.org or www.jsartscompany.com for more information.