SAC Summer Music Festival tunes up post-Covid

The classical music industry suffered during Covid-19, with musicians unable to hold concerts or even travel overseas.

Kim Min, the music director of the Korean Chamber Orchestra, speaks during a press conference at the Seoul Arts Center in southern Seoul on Thursday for the upcoming SAC Summer Music Festival. Kim is the chairman for the festival’s organizing committee this year. From left: Seo Gowooni, the head of the SAC’s performing arts department; Kim; Spanish conductor Antonio Mendez; violinist Lee Ji-hye and percussionist Lee Won-suk. [YONHAP]

The classical music industry suffered during Covid-19, with musicians unable to hold concerts or even travel overseas. But now that the pandemic is seemingly heading toward its end, the Seoul Arts Center (SAC) is excited to upgrade to the next step for its upcoming SAC Summer Music Festival.

The event, in its third edition, is inviting for the first time internationally renowned musicians to take the stage at the SAC Concert Hall, IBK Chamber Hall and Recital Hall in Seocho District, southern Seoul, from Aug. 22 to 27.

Among them are virtuoso pianist Paik Kun-woo and British violinist Viktoria Mullova. Paik is celebrating the 67th year of his debut and will close the festival alongside a joint performance with rising classical musicians on Aug. 23.

Mullova visits Korea for the first time in five years and will perform on Aug. 26.

Virtuoso pianist Paik Kun-woo [ROHSH]

The SAC is one of the top venues in Korea for classical music and now it’s finally “gained momentum to host an international music festival,” Kim Min, music director of the Korean Chamber Orchestra, said during a press conference at the SAC on Thursday. Kim is the chairman of the festival’s organizing committee this year.

The annual Summer Music Festival, first held in 2021, supports rising musicians in Korea and is co-organized by the SAC and the Performing Arts Management Association of Korea. This year is the 30th anniversary of the SAC's opening and the lineup includes performances by 10 up-and-coming classical musician teams selected in a competition that saw 250 entries.

“Next year, we hope to expand the scale of the festival by adding joint performances by overseas artists alongside our Korean artists,” Seo Gowooni, the head of the SAC’s performing arts department, said.

Spanish conductor Antonio Méndez [IGORSTUDIO]

Spanish conductor Antonio Méndez could not think of any other music festival in the world with “so many talented musicians,” marveling that the SAC is a “world-class venue.”

“If anyone told me you can have the best Spanish musicians and have a music festival in Spain for [six] days in the summer,” Méndez said, “it’s just a dream.”

Méndez is set to conduct both the opening and closing performances on Aug. 22 at 7:30 p.m. and Aug. 27 at 5 p.m.

The festival is a great opportunity for musicians and a way for them to communicate with the audience, according to violinist Lee Ji-hye and percussionist Lee Won-suk.

“It’s fascinating that artists can gather in this time in the same space to converse together about an assortment of different stories,” percussionist Lee said.

For more information on tickets and the schedule, visit the SAC’s website.

BY SHIN MIN-HEE [shin.minhee@joongang.co.kr]