Yongjae O'Neill Begins New Journey with May Recital at Seoul Arts Center

Performances with Harpist Seisong and Flutist Yunt at Mapo Art Center and Chungnam Provincial Government Cultural Hall

Richard Yongjae O'Neill [Photo by Credia]

[Asia Economy Reporter Byunghee Park] Violist Richard Yongjae O'Neill (42), who is taking on new challenges this year, will hold a recital at the Seoul Arts Center Concert Hall on May 22.

Harpsichordist Emmanuel Ceysson (36) and flutist Philip Yount (52) will join Yongjae O'Neill's recital. They plan to mainly perform music by French composers such as Maurice Ravel, Claude Debussy, Gabriel Faur?, and Fran?ois Devienne. Following the Seoul Arts Center, performances will also be held on May 26 at the Mapo Art Center in Seoul and on May 27 at the Chungnam Provincial Government Cultural Center.

Yongjae O'Neill concluded the DITTO Festival journey, which lasted 12 years, last year. DITTO is a chamber music concert series started in 2007 by the classical concert planning company Credia and Yongjae O'Neill. It is regarded as the most successful classical concert series in Korea and has contributed to popularizing classical music.

After concluding DITTO, Yongjae O'Neill will join the string quartet "Tak?cs Quartet" this year and begin a new path. The Tak?cs Quartet is a string quartet celebrating its 45th anniversary this year. Yongjae O'Neill will join as the new violist of the Tak?cs Quartet, replacing Geraldine Walther (70), who is retiring this year. He is scheduled to officially start performing as a member of the Tak?cs Quartet from June.

Born in France, Ceysson has been the principal harpist at the Metropolitan Opera in New York since 2015. He is a highly skilled musician who has swept major harp competitions such as the USA International Harp Competition in 2004 and the ARD International Competition in 2009.

Born in Switzerland, Yount is currently a professor at the Weimar Music Department of Kangnam University. With a unique background of graduating from Harvard University’s Department of Economics and studying flute at the Munich Conservatory in Germany, Yount has been active in Korea since 2008.

Ceysson and Yount will each perform a solo piece during this concert as before. Ceysson will perform Faur?’s "Impromptu No. 6," and Yount will perform Debussy’s "Syrinx."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.