Seoul-backed annual festival runs Oct. 30 to Nov. 6
| Seoul International Music Festival Artistic Director Ryu Jea-joon talks during a press conference on Sept. 30 in Seoul. (SIMF) |
Seoul International Music Festival returns this year with six performances under the theme “Dance with Me,” inviting audiences to experience the energy and joy of music through the universal language of dance.
From waltz to tango to ballet, the festival shares with audiences the vitality and joy of life that classical music conveys through dance, the element that has shaped Western music history for centuries.
This year’s lineup features cellist Gary Hoffman, horn virtuoso Radek Baborak and conductor Kirill Karabits, alongside the SIMF Orchestra led by concertmasters Kim Dami, Baek Ju-young and Kim Jae-won.
The opening concert on Oct. 30 at Lotte Concert Hall, “From Mozart to Tango,” will highlight the evolution of dance from aristocratic grace to fiery modernity, culminating in Astor Piazzolla’s tango newly arranged for full orchestra by composer Kim Hong-geol. The orchestra will be led by Baborak.
Following the opening concert, the festival offers chamber music performances, "German Dance" at Seoul Arts Center on Oct. 31, and "Slavic Dance" at the Sejong Center for the Performing Arts on Nov. 1.
On Nov. 2, the SIMF String Orchestra will celebrate the bicentennial of the birth of Johann Strauss II with "Fruhlingsstimmen" and serenades by Dvorak and Tchaikovsky, while soprano Shin Ju-yeon makes her festival debut.
On Nov. 5, Hoffman returns for an all-Beethoven Cello Sonata cycle, reflecting the composer’s rhythmic brilliance and wit under the title “Dancing with Beethoven.”
| Cellist Garry Hoffman (SIMF) |
The finale on Nov. 6, conducted by Karabits, commemorates 60 years of Korea-Japan relations with the Korean premiere of Toru Takemitsu’s “A String Around Autumn," featuring violist Park Ha-yang, a protege of Nobuko Imai. The concert also includes Bruch’s Double Concerto with Song Ji-won and Kim Sang-jin, and Rachmaninoff’s Symphonic Dances.
The festival runs from Oct. 30 to Nov. 6 at Seoul's leading performing venues, including the Lotte Concert Hall, Seoul Arts Center and the Sejong Center for the Performing Arts.
Ticket prices range from 20,000 won to 60,000 won.
| Conductor Kirill Karabits (SIMF) |
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