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Program

Artists

Myung-Whun Chung | Conductor

Dong-Il Shin | Organ

Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra | Orchestra

National Chorus | Chorus

Myung-Whun Chung | Conductor

Maestro Myung-Whun Chung is one of the most respected conductors of our time today.

Following his studies at Mannes College and The Juilliard School in New York, he became Carlo Maria Giulini's assistant in 1979 at the Los Angeles Philharmonic and two years later was named Associate Conductor.

He was Music Director of the Saarbrucken Radio Symphony Orchestra from 1984 to 1990, Principal Guest Conductor of the Teatro Comunale of Florence from 1987 to 1992 and Music Director of the Opera de Paris-Bastille from 1989 to 1994.  The year 2000 marked his return to Paris as Music Director of the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France.  His love for Italy has been the basis of his extensive work in that country for many years, including, from 1997 to 2005, his position as Principal Conductor of the Santa Cecilia Orchestra in Rome.  He also appears regularly at the Teatro La Fenice, most recently for Simon Boccanegra.  Other opera engagements in the 2014/15 season include La traviata and Rigoletto at the Wiener Staatsoper.  In Germany, he became Principal Guest Conductor of the Staatskapelle Dresden at the beginning of the 2012/13 season, the first conductor to hold the post in the history of the orchestra.  Outside Europe, he is increasingly committed to musical and social causes in Asia through his roles as Music Director of the Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra and Honorary Conductor Laureate of the Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra. In June 2015, he became the first music director in the history of Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France to receive the title of Honorary Music Director.

Myung-Whun Chung has conducted virtually all the world’s leading orchestras, including the Berliner Philharmoniker, Bayerische Rundfunk, Wiener Philharmoniker, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Filharmonica della Scala  as well as all the major London and Parisian orchestras.  In the USA, he has collaborated with the Metropolitan Opera, New York Philharmonic, Philadelphia Orchestra, Boston Symphony, Chicago Symphony and Cleveland Orchestra.

An exclusive recording artist for Deutsche Grammophon since 1990, many of his numerous recordings have won international prizes and awards.  Recent releases include Messiaen's Turangalila Symphony and Shostakovich’s Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk with the Orchestre de l'Opera Bastille, as well as a total of 9 albums including Tchaikovsky Symphony No. 6 Pathetique, Mahler Symphony Nos. 1, 2, 5, and 9 all with the Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra.

Myung-Whun Chung has been the recipient of many honours and prizes for his artistic work, including the Premio Abbiati and the Arturo Toscanini prize in Italy and the Legion d’Honneur (1992) in France.  In 1991, the Association of French Theatres and Music Critics named him ‘Artist of the Year’ and in 1995 he won the ‘Victoire de la Musique’ prize three times.  He was named a Commandeur dans l'ordre des Arts et des Lettres by the French government in 2011 and was honored with his second Premio Abbiati in 2015, 27 years since he won the award in 1998.

Deeply sensitive to humanitarian and ecological problems of our age, Myung-Whun Chung has devoted an important part of his life to these causes.  In 1994 he launched a series of musical and environmental projects in Korea for youth.  He served as Ambassador for the Drug Control Program at the United Nations (UNDCP); in 1995, he was named ‘Man of the year’ by UNESCO and also ‘Most Distinguished Personality’ by the Korean press association.  In 1996, he received the ‘Kumkuan’, the highest cultural award of the Korean government for his contribution to Korean musical life.  Myung-Whun Chung now serves as Honorary Cultural Ambassador for Korea, the first in the Korean government’s history.  In 2008, he was designated the first conductor named as Goodwill Ambassador for the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF).

Unsuk Chin | Composer

Unsuk Chin was born in 1961 in Seoul, South Korea. She studied with Sukhi Kang at the Seoul National University and with Gyorgy Ligeti at the University of Music and Theatre Hamburg. Chin's music has attracted international conductors including Simon Rattle, Kent Nagano, Myung-Whun Chung, Alan Gilbert, Gustavo Dudamel, Esa-Pekka Salonen, David Robertson, Neeme Jarvi and Peter Eotvos. Chin has received many honours, including the 2004 Grawemeyer Award for Music Composition, the 2005 Arnold Schoenberg Prize, the 2010 Prince Pierre Foundation Music Award, and the 2012 Ho-Am Prize.  She has been commissioned by leading performing organisations and her music has been performed in major festivals and concert series in Europe, the Far East, and North America by orchestras and ensembles such as the Berlin Philharmonic, New York Philharmonic, BBC Symphony Orchestra, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, London Philharmonic Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra,  Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, Boston Symphony Orchestra, City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, Montreal Symphony Orchestra, Philharmonia Orchestra, Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France,  London Sinfonietta, Ensemble Intercontemporain, Ensemble Modern, Kronos Quartet, Klangforum Wien, Hilliard Ensemble and Arditti Quartet. In addition, Unsuk Chin has been active in writing electroacoustic music, receiving commissions from IRCAM and other electronic music studios. In 2007, Chin’s first opera Alice in Wonderland was given its world premiere at the Bavarian State Opera as the opening of the Munich Opera Festival and released on DVD by Unitel Classica. Her second opera Alice Through the Looking Glass is commissioned by The Royal Opera in London for premiere in the 2018/19 season. Since 2006, Chin has been composer-in-residence with the Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra and has overseen 'Ars Nova', the orchestra's contemporary music series, which she founded herself. Since 2011, she has served as Artistic Director of the ‘Music of Today’ series of the Philharmonia Orchestra in London at the invitation of its chief conductor Esa-Pekka Salonen. Portrait CDs of her music have appeared on Deutsche Grammophon, Kairos and Analekta.  Unsuk Chin’s works are published exclusively by Boosey & Hawkes.  She lives in Berlin.

Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra (SPO) | Orchestra

For the past 70 years, the Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra (SPO) has played a central role in enriching the cultural lives of Korea's citizens. In 2005, under the leadership of Maestro Myung-Whun Chung, the orchestra was reborn, setting a new standard for orchestral music in Korea. With distinguished guest conductors, soloists and the Grawemeyer award-winning Composer-in-Residence Unsuk Chin, the SPO continues to take the initiative in shaping the Korean classical music scene.

The SPO has extended its scope to an international scale starting in 2007 with Thailand and the New York-based U.N. Headquarters for the 62nd United Nations Day Concert. In 2010, the orchestra embarked on its first overseas tour to nine cities in Italy, Germany, Czech Republic and Russia. This followed the orchestra's European festival tour in 2011 which included the world-famous Edinburgh International Festival. In 2012, the orchestra won standing ovations and wide acclaim for its North American tour, including their performance at the world renowned Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles. In 2013, SPO performed a meaningful concert at the National Center for the Performing Arts in Beijing to celebrate the 20th Anniversary of Seoul-Beijing sister cities relationship. In August 2014, the SPO toured to the Turku Music Festival, the Grafenegg Festival, the Merano Music Festival, and to the BBC Proms in Europe where the orchestra received rave reviews from critics and audiences alike. The influential UK newspaper, The Daily Telegraph, gave the orchestra’s performance at the BBC Proms its highest rating of five stars, describing it as “beautifully paced and deeply moving.” In 2015, the SPO also held successful concerts in National Centre for the Performing Arts (NCPA) in China and Suntory Hall in Japan, establishing its status as a major orchestra in Asia.

Meanwhile, apart from traditional concert hall venues, the SPO performs a wide range of public concerts and is deeply involved in the everyday lives of Seoul citizens. Large-scale outdoor concerts such as the Neighborhood Concerts in hospitals, prisons, local community centers and other diverse places, the Children’s Day Celebration Concert at the Seoul Children’s Grand Park, and the Riverside Concert at the side of the Hangang River, are all greatly loved by people from all walks of life in the bustling metropolis.

Furthermore, SPO also provides customized education programs such as the Neighborhood Art School for children, Pre-concert Lecture for adult audiences, Conducting Masterclass for young conductors, Composition Masterclass for composition majors, and Baty Brass Academy for future brass players. They are all part of the orchestra's vision to expand its future audience base as well as to develop and nurture young artists on a long-term basis. 

SPO also became the first Asian orchestra to sign an exclusive worldwide contract with the Deutsche Grammophon label for two CD releases annually in a total span of five years. A total of nine albums have been released up to date including Unsuk Chin’s 3 Concertos and Mahler’s Symphony No. 9 which were released in 2014 and Mahler’s Symphony No. 5 in 2015. The Unsuk Chin’s 3 Concertos album in particular was honored by two of the world’s most prestigious awards in classical music: International Classical Music Awards (ICMA) for best contemporary music recording and BBC Music Magazine Awards for winning the Premiere Category.

The National Chorus of Korea (N.C.K) | Chorus

The National Chorus of Korea, the country’s first professional chorus as choral leader, was founded in 1973 in order to pursue the professional and artistic aspects of choral singing.

The N.C.K has elevated Korean choral music from an amateur to professional level, which has served as the motivation for developing the chorus to become one of the world’s greatest vocal music groups. The members of the chorus have greatly contributed to the field of vocal music in Korea.

The National Chorus of Korea has introduced a wealth of famous choral repertoire to Korea, such as Bach’s “St. Matthew Passion” and “St. John Passion”, along with a wide variety of repertoire, extending from the Renaissance to Contemporary Periods. The chorus has garnered many achievements within the choral art in Korea. The chorus has developed new Korean choral works that express distinct vocal and musical styles portraying many of the special characteristics of Korean culture, alongside interpretations of other various styles of music. Additionally, numerous achievements have been accomplished by the chorus, such as traveling and performing for provincial concerts, subscription concerts, special concerts, and opera. The chorus has been invited to Europe, the United States, Russia, China and Japan, providing the chorus the opportunity to become more globalized through the experience of performing abroad.

Since its foundation, the chorus has been led by following conductors: 1^st_NahYoungsoo, 2^nd_BaeDukyoon, 3^rd_NahYoungsoo, 4^th_OhSaejong, 5^th_YeumJinsub, 6^th_KimMyungyub, 7^th_NahYoungsoo and 8^th_LeeSanghoon.

Currently, the chorus is being led by 9^th Artistic director, Koo Chun.

Academy Boys Choir of National Chorus of Korea | Choir

Academy Boys Choir of National Chorus of Korea(N.C.K) was launched in July 2015 by N.C.K as the first boys choir of a umbrella National Arts Organizations in Korea. Theo choir members receive the European style education for the gifted children for accomplishing balanced development between mind and body. As Academy Boys Choir of N.C.K has performed regular concerts and provincial concerts of N.C.K, they are expanding their field.