Sejong Center to host prelude concert ahead of Beethoven, Brahms anniversary year

The Sejong Center for the Performing Arts will host a prelude concert featuring conductor Chung Myung-whun, pianist Kim Sun-wook and the KBS Symphony Orchestra next month. The performance, set for October 4 at 5 p.m., is a preview of a series of tribute concerts expected globally in the coming year. This event is part of the Sejong Orchestra Series, which the Sejong Center is hosting.

The concert comes as Chung prepares to assume the role of music director at Teatro alla Scala in Milan in 2027, marking a historic first for an Asian conductor to lead this prestigious Italian opera house, established in 1778. His appointment to the position of the 10th music director of the KBS Symphony Orchestra, which he began in January, also signals a significant milestone.

Kim Sun-wook, the pianist, will perform Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 3 as soloist, setting the stage for Chung Myung-whun to conduct the orchestra in Brahms' Symphony No. 2 in the latter half of the program. The partnership between these two Korean musicians spans nearly two decades, with their collaboration including a 2013 Deutsche Grammophon recording of Beethoven's Emperor Concerto with the Seoul Philharmonic under Chung, which marked Kim's debut as a soloist on the renowned label, achieved after his notable victory at the Leeds International Piano Competition in 2006, his breakthrough performance.