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| The poster for the Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra (SPO)'s New Year's concert, "#Cheer Up Seoul" / Courtesy of SPO |
By Park Ji-won
Many concerts scheduled to be held in 2020 and 2021 were canceled, postponed or held online due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Concert schedules were thrown into such disarray that many audience members' memories might be a blur as to whether specific concerts were held in 2020 or 2021. But audiences will be sure to remember the New Year's performances being held in January, as many of them will be held offline, with a variety of music ― including Korean traditional music as well as classical music ― marking the Year of the Tiger.
The National Jeongdong Theater will begin its 2022 season and the New Year with a work titled, "Hogi: The Aura of a Tiger" ― a performance consisting of musicians and performers from various musical areas, such as traditional music, classical music and theater musicals, inspired by the tiger ― that will be showcased at the theater on Tuesday. Media arts adapting images from folk paintings will be also presented along with the performances. Forte di Quattro, a crossover vocal quartet, along with pansori singers and musicians such as JUL Hz, will be performing in the traditional music-based show.
Hosted by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and organized by the Seoul Arts Center and the KBS Symphony Orchestra, the 2022 New Year's Concert will be livestreamed on Wednesday online via Naver, YouTube and KBS's mobile application.
The KBS Symphony Orchestra, led by Choi Soo-yeol, and featuring award-winning classical musicians soprano Im Sun-hae, baritone Kim Gi-hoon, pianists Son Yeol-eum and Park Jae-hong, violinist Zia Hyunsu Shin, cellist Han Jae-min, as well as Areumdri Multicultural Children's Choir, will be performing pieces from the soundtracks of megahit Netflix's Korean original series "Squid Game" and Bong Joon-ho's Academy Award-winning film "Parasite," arranged for the orchestra. The concert will also be aired via KBS1 on Jan. 16.
On Thursday, the Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra, led by Sung Shi-yeon, will hold its New Year's concert titled, "#Cheer Up Seoul," at the Sejong Center for the Performing Arts. The program consists of Mikhail Glinka's "Ruslan and Lyudmila Overture," Sergei Prokofiev's "Piano Concerto No. 2 in G minor, Op. 16" and Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky's "Symphony No. 4 in F minor, Op. 36." Pianist Sunwoo Ye-kwon will be joining the performance. The ticket sales made from the concert will be donated to overcome the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Seoul Arts Center will open up the season themed with gagok, a genre of traditional Korean vocal music based on Korean poetry lyrics, in Friday's performance titled, "2022 Good Morning Gagok," as part of the art theater's efforts to showcase the music genre. With the Millennium Symphony Orchestra, led by Yang Jae-moo, sopranos Park Mi-ja and Kim Soon-young, tenor Kim Jae-hyung, baritone Ki Sung-hyun, along with male vocal group I Maestri, will sing famous gagok works such as "Bong Sun Hwa" "Gagopa" "Bimok" and "Geuriun Geumgangsan."
The National Orchestra of Korea, a state run traditional music orchestra under the National Theater of Korea, will hold its New Year's concert at Haeoreum Grand Theater on Jan. 14. The orchestra will premiere "One song, Aegukga," composed by Son Da-hye, while composer and pianist Yang Bang-ean, along with vocal quartet RabidAnce, will play their famous songs, such as, "Flowers of K & Frontier" and "Monggeumpotaryeong." The National Orchestra of Korea has held an annual New Year's concert since 2020.
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