By Lee Hyo-won
Staff Reporter
Commemorative concerts will take place in Korea and Japan for the internationally renowned conductor Ahn Eak-tai (1906-65), who is best known for composing the country's national anthem.
The 2009 Ahn Eak-tai Memorial Concert will be held Sept. 22 at 7:30 p.m. at Goyang Aram Nuri Arts Complex, Goyang, Gyeonggi Province, in time for the date of his death in September 1965. Another concert will be held Dec. 1 at 7:00 p.m. at NHK Hall, Osaka, Japan, just before the late musician's birthday on Dec. 5.
Born in Pyongyang in 1906 during the Japanese occupation (1910-45), Ahn was exposed to music through church and played the violin and trumpet.
He began his formal musical training in middle school, where he took up the cello, and the prodigy's talents enabled him to study abroad in the United States, at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music and later, the Curtis Institute.
It was during his stint in America in the mid-1930s that he composed his masterpiece "Korea Fantasy." Koreans recognize the piece's central theme as "Aegukga," or the Korean anthem.
Shortly thereafter, he moved to Europe where he met his inspirational teacher and sponsor, the great modern conductor-composer Richard Strauss. It was through Strauss that Ahn gained prominence as a conductor. He then studied with Zoltan Kodaly as a special scholarship student at the Liszt Music Academy between 1938 and 1941.
His impressive work as a conductor included collaborations with the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, among other prominent European ensembles. The featuring of "Korea Fantasy" in the program of his concerts evoked opposition from the Japanese government, which occupied Korea until 1945.
On Aug.15, 1948, Ahn's "Aegukga" was sung in the ceremony commemorating the establishment of the South Korean government. In 1955, he returned to his motherland after 25 years and led the Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra until he fell ill and eventually died, on Sept. 16, 1965.
The repertoire, commemorating Ahn and his teachers, includes "Dances of Galanta" by Kodaly and "Cacilie" by Strauss, featuring soprano Park Jung-won.
Also included are Ahn's "Mallorca" and "White Lily," as well as J. Arban's "Fantasie and Variation," with Ahn Hee-chan, principal trumpeter of the KBS Symphony Orchestra.
Kim Duck-ki, a professor at Seoul National University, will conduct the Prime Philharmonic Orchestra for the concert in Korea while Chang Yun-sung, principal conductor of the Osaka College Opera House Orchestra, will appear with his ensemble for the performance in Japan.
Tickets for the Goyang concert are by invitation only and will be distributed by order of inquiry. Call (02) 821-8494.