Korea Times hosts star-studded spring concert

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Korea Times hosts star-studded spring concert

Posted : 2019-02-21 22:15

Updated : 2019-02-22 09:30

Audience members take their seats in the Grand Hall of the Sejong Center for the Performing Arts in Jongno-gu, Seoul, Thursday, prior to the start of the 14th annual spring concert hosted by The Korea Times. Korea Times photo by Shim Hyun-chul

By Kwak Yeon-soo

The Korea Times presented its spring concert at the Sejong Center for the Performing Arts in central Seoul, Thursday, to celebrate the newspaper's 69th anniversary. Its readers were invited to the show as a token of gratitude for their support.

The concert, conducted by the Mostly Philharmonic Orchestra's Park Sang-hyun, a regular contributor to the event, featured a wide range of musical genres, from classical and musical theater to popular songs from some of Korea's top musicians.

This year's lineup included K-pop singer Ali, musical singer Park So-yeon, tenors Ryu Jung-phil and Chung Joong-soon, chanson singer Monsieur Ko, soprano Kim Jee-hyun and dancer Seo Jae-won.

Nearly 2,000 guests including readers, government officials, diplomats posted to Seoul, business leaders, Miss Korea pageant queens and runners-up, and other cultural figures attended the event.

The concert began with "Farandole" from the opera "L'Arlesienne" played by the Mostly Philharmonic Orchestra followed by "La Donna e Mobile" from "Rigoletto" and "This is the Moment" from the musical "Jekyll & Hyde" featuring tenor Chung.

Swedish Ambassador to South Korea Jakob Hallgren, right, Korea Times President and Publisher Lee Byeong-eon, center, and Mexican Ambassador to South Korea Bruno Figueroa Fischer attend the newspaper's 14th annual spring concert at the Sejong Center for the Performing Arts in Jongno-gu, Seoul, Thursday. Korea Times photo by Choi Won-suk

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Then, soprano Kim sang "Love of Wolyeong Bridge," composed by Lee An-sam, and "I Feel Pretty" from the musical "West Side Story."

Tenor Ryu continued with "You are My Destiny" and a compilation of Korean folk songs, followed by musical singer Park who performed "Gold von den Sternen" from the musical "Mozart" and "Don't Cry for Me Argentina" from "Evita."

A duet of "Arirang Alone" by Kim and Ryu ended the first part of the show.

After the intermission, the second half of the concert featured "Song of the Wind," in which dancer Seo Jae-won interpreted the song through choreography. Then Monsieur Ko sang "L'hymne l'amour," "Padam padam" and "Nostalgia."

K-pop singer Ali finished the concert with "Pungpung," "Zugae," "A Man in Yellow Shirt," and "People are More Beautiful than Flowers."

Audience members wait to enter the Grand Hall of the Sejong Center for the Performing Arts in Jongno-gu, Seoul, prior to the 14th annual spring concert hosted by The Korea Times, Thursday. Korea Times photo by Choi Won-suk

Ambassadors, deputy chiefs of mission and other members of diplomatic corps from 16 countries ― Azerbaijan, Belarus, Germany, Israel, Italy, Japan, Latvia, Mexico, Nigeria, Pakistan, the Philippines, Sweden, South Africa, Turkey, United Kingdom and Vietnam ― attended the event.

"I am honored to be invited to this fantastic spring concert by The Korea Times. It's a wonderful initiative and I really enjoyed listening to it. I salute this initiative by The Korea Times," Swedish Ambassador to Korea Jakob Hallgren told The Korea Times.

Pakistani Ambassador to Korea Rahim Hayat Qureshi said, "The 14th Korea Times Spring Concert was amazingly performed within an atmosphere that could not have been improved. The program was beautifully constructed and the musicians delivered it with great aplomb."

He added "Many congratulations to The Korea Times on its 69th anniversary and our best wishes for the years to come."

Mexican Ambassador to Korea Bruno Figueroa Fischer commented, "The Korea Times Spring Concert 2019 perfectly translates the Korean spirit. On one side, we were delighted by a cosmopolitan presentation of musical works from different parts of the world and, at the same time, the recital took care of Korea's cultural roots by including beautiful songs from its musical tradition. We simply loved it!"

yeons.kwak@koreatimes.co.kr