INTERVIEW Much coveted music festival ends, yet TIMF CEO Riem still busy

Florian Riem, CEO of Tongyeong International Music Foundation (TIMF) / Courtesy of TIMF

By Anna J. Park

Korea's southern city of Tongyeong boasts some of the country's most breathtaking seaside scenery, attracting both domestic and international tourists. The local tourism industry is not the only beneficiary of Tongyeong's natural assets.

The Tongyeong International Music Foundation (TIMF), which leads the city's cultural activities and hosts an annual music festival, partly owes its success to the city's wonderful natural setting.

TIMF CEO Florian Riem, 50, has overseen overall affairs of the foundation since he took the helm in 2014. The music foundation hosts the Tongyeong International Music Festival every spring, an annual international classical music festival launched in 2002, and manages the yearly programming of Tongyeong Concert Hall, a state-of-the-art music hall built in 2014 right next to the sea.

The foundation also holds the annual International ISANGYUN Competition, a classical music competition to commemorate the accomplishments of the late composer Yun I-sang (1917-1995). Born in Tongyeong, Yun made his career in Germany.

Riem, who studied classical music at the Munich Richard Strauss Conservatory in Germany before he became a famed cultural manager, said he is satisfied with this year's festival, which ended its 10-day run on Sunday.

“Our 25 main performances were attended by almost 11,000 visitors; in addition there were seven school and educational events which were visited by over 2,500 kids ― from elementary school to university level,” he told The Korea Times.

The music festival was held under the theme of “Destiny,” celebrating Beethoven's 250th birthday that falls next year. Lucerne Symphony Orchestra opened the festival with Beethoven's famous 5th Symphony, often dubbed the Destiny Symphony. Riem explained the theme “Destiny” was by no means limited to Beethoven, as it provided a “wonderful thread throughout the programming, for example in pairings of I-sang Yun and Richard Strauss,” and he received numerous enthusiastic responses from the audience.

Although the annual music festival is now over, the foundation still has work to do as its projects continue throughout the year. A concert by Korea's star pianist Cho Seong-jin is one of the key events it is preparing for later in the year.

“There are many highlights to come this year. The first one is a very special concert of violinist Gidon Kremer which will be held on April 28 at Tongyeong Concert Hall. And we will have another festival in September, albeit shorter. Under the title 'Seong-jin and Friends,' the Korean star pianist Cho Seong-jin will be in residence 'at his favorite hall' in Korea from September 19 to 22,” he said.

Riem vowed that the music foundation will continue to engage audiences and the local community.

“We will always strive to develop new ideas and formats,” he said. “You won´t see the same old thing again in Tongyeong. In the future, we would like to try to enlarge our international network and attract more visitors from overseas, while at the same time intensify our work in the local community.”