Musicians, diplomats gather for inspiring GMF Charity Night Gala

The fourth GMF Charity Night Gala was held Tuesday evening, with winners of the Great Music Festival taking the stage to perform before a global audience representing more than 30 countries.

Attendees of the GMF Charity Night Gala which was held Tuesday evening at the Grand Walkerhill Seoul's Aston House in eastern Seoul pose for the photo. [PARK SANG-MOON]

The fourth GMF Charity Night Gala was held Tuesday evening, with winners of the Great Music Festival taking the stage to perform before a global audience representing more than 20 countries.

Organized by SK Innovation and the Heart to Heart Foundation, the Great Music Festival (GMF) is an annual music competition for musicians with developmental disabilities. It has discovered some 191 teams and 2,070 musicians in the seven years since its inaugural event in 2017.

The Charity Night Gala event brings together award-winning musicians from the festival and diplomats from all over the world.

The gala has been co-hosted with the Korea JoongAng Daily since it began in 2021.

Under this year's theme of "Great Melody in Fall," five award-winning teams from previous festivals — Aria Nanta, Mosaic, SEM Duo, Console Piano Ensemble and Parasol Clarinet Ensemble — graced the stage Tuesday evening at the Grand Walkerhill Seoul's Aston House in eastern Seoul.

"The performances of the GMF winners tonight were a result of not only their talents but also the thousands and ten of thousands of rehearsals they have done," said Lim Su-kil, head of SK Innovation's Value Creation Center, who participated the event.

"We will see great possibilities and value by listening to their music. They are realizing their great dreams, great challenges and great harmony [through the stage]."

Aria Nanta, a nine-member Korean percussion team that received the Encouragement Award this year, opened the show, while the Parasol Clarinet Ensemble, an 11-member ensemble team that received the Grand Prize this year, wrapped up the concert, which lasted over an hour.

Bbiribboo, a crossover traditional Korean music team, took to the stage as a special guest.

"Music is a language that transcends all cultures and differences," said Cheong Chul-gun, CEO of the Korea JoongAng Daily.

"It doesn't require special expertise to enjoy music, and anyone listening can understand the message. I am happy to say that joining us tonight are musicians who will tell stories of perseverance and hope, of strength and partnership — stories that the world needs more and more, especially today."

Tuesday's gala was joined by near 20 ambassadors to Korea including from Mexico, Chile, Indonesia and Greece, among others.SK Innovation set up a special booth promoting the Busan Expo where visitors could experience the beauty of the southern coastal city through virtual reality. Outside the venue, overlooking the Han River, was a photo zone with SK's mascot, Happy Elephant, and Busan's seagull mascot, Boogi.

Front left, Cambodian Ambassador Chring Botumrangsay, Laos Ambassador Songkane Luangmuninthone, spouse of Dominican ambassador Natalia Federighi de Cuello, Dominican Ambassador Federico Alberto Cuello Camilo, Indonesian Ambassador Gandi Sulistiyanto, a guest of SK Innnovation, CEO of the Korea JoongAng Daily Cheong Chul-gun, Moroccan Ambassador Chafik Rachadi, Greek Ambassador Ekaterini Loupas, Kuwaiti Ambassador Deyab Alrashidi, Lebanese Ambassador Antoine Azzam and Executive Editor of the Korea JoongAng Daily Choi Ji-young; Second row from left, Latvian Ambassador Aris Vigants, spouse of Lithuanian ambassador Daiva Slepaviciene, Heart to Heart Foundation President and CEO Oh Jee-chul, Serbian Ambassador Nemanja Grbic and his spouse Ines Grbic, Ghanaian Head of Chancery Rita Kissi, a guest of SK Innovation, Sierra Leone Ambassador Mattai Kathos Jibao, Hungarian Ambassador Istvan Szerdahelyi, Ecuadorian International Cooperation Officer Lizeth Barros, Ecuadorian Deputy Head of Mission Orlin Madrid and spouse of Mexican Ambassador Regina Flores Chuzeville; Third row from left, Lithuanian Ambassador Ricardas Slepavicius, spouse of Uruguayan ambassador Martha Rodriguez Planke, Uruguayan Ambassador Pablo Scheiner, Chilean Ambassador Mathias Francke, Mexican Ambassador Carlos Peñafiel Soto, Singaporean Deputy Chief of Mission Adrian Li, spouse of Ukrainian ambassador Oksana Ponomarenko, Ukrainian Ambassador Dmytro Ponomarenko, spouse of Czech ambassador Andrea Jancarkova, Czech Ambassador Ivan Jancarek, U.S. Acting Deputy Chief of Mission Bob Post, Tunisian Ambassador Kais Darragi and Vice President of SK Innovation Lim Su-kil.

BY JIN EUN-SOO [jin.eunsoo@joongang.co.kr]