Chamber music festival in Seoul highlights Mozart, young prodigies

Musicians perform during the Seoul Spring Festival of Chamber Music's opening concert in Seoul, April 22, 2025. Courtesy of Seoul Spring Festival of Chamber Music

This year's edition of the Seoul Spring Festival of Chamber Music will mark Mozart’s 270th birthday with a two-week long program dedicated to the composer and young prodigy musicians slated for April 21 to May 3 in Seo

Founded in 2006 by violinist and artistic director Kang Dong-suk in partnership with the Seoul Metropolitan Government, the festival has grown into one of the city’s representative arts events, serving as a launchpad for young virtuosos and challenging the notion that chamber music is difficult.

Titled “Mozart and Prodigies,” the festival offers 13 concerts with a record lineup of 82 artists from Korea and abroad. Instead of simply repeating Mozart's greatest hits, the musicians are expected to explore two core keywords, “genius” and “beginnings.”

A poster for the 21st edition of the Seoul Spring Festival of Chamber Music, running from April 21 to May 3 / Courtesy of Seoul Spring Festival of Chamber Music

The opening concert on April 21 pairs Mozart’s “String Quintet No. 5” with works by Camille Saint-Saens, Claude Debussy and Cesar Franck, all of whom are celebrated as prodigies or early bloomers in French music history.

A subsequent concert on April 22 will focus on early works by Mozart, Beethoven and Schubert, who became famed musicians at a young age. This is followed by another performance on April 23 showcasing works by Haydn and Dvorak, who were considered “late bloomers.”

The festival’s most anticipated event, “Family Concert: Prodigies,” will feature seven rising teenage musicians — including violinist Kim Yeon-ah, cellist Kim Jung-a, clarinetist Lee Do-yeong and pianist Lee Ju-eon — sharing the stage with senior artists. This event is scheduled for May 2.

The festival also weaves in a diplomatic theme, marking the 140th anniversary of Korea-France relations.

Three concerts — the opening “Prodiges Francais (Prodigies of France),” “La Crème de la Crème (The Very Best)” on April 30 and the closing program titled “France 1886” on May 3 — will spotlight French chamber masterpieces and works completed in 1886, the year the two countries established diplomatic ties.

The finale features Emmanuel Chabrier’s “Souvenirs de Munich,” Gabriel Faure’s “Piano Quartet No. 2,” Franck’s “Violin Sonata” and Saint-Saen’s “Carnival of the Animals.”

Organizers say the concert is designed not just as a showcase of virtuosity but as “a place of intergenerational connection,” where chamber music becomes a medium for mentorship and artistic inheritance.

Kang, who himself debuted as a child prodigy and has led the festival since its inception, said, “Through this year’s programs, we hope audiences will feel both the spark of genius and the hard-won passion of the many musicians who labored to let that talent bloom.”

The full program and ticket information are at seoulspring.org.