Kumho Art Hall Resumes In-Person Performances After 5 Months

From the left, Park Jonghae, Kalachi String Quartet, Kim Wooyeon [Photo by Kumho Asiana Cultural Foundation]

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Byung-hee] Kumho Art Hall will resume in-person performances after five months.

On the 22nd, Kumho Art Hall announced that it will restart its planned performance stage next month with the 'Classic Vibe' series of Beautiful Thursdays. This is the first in-person performance since February, when the COVID-19 pandemic caused a halt. Until now, Kumho Art Hall has only presented three non-face-to-face online broadcast performances.

To ensure the safety of both the audience and performers, Kumho Art Hall will implement social distancing between seats, opening only about 150 seats out of the total 390 by leaving the seats in front, behind, and on both sides of each occupied seat empty. The planned performances in July will proceed under these conditions.

The 'Classic Vibe' series at Kumho Art Hall, scheduled from July 2 to 16, will feature the Kalachi String Quartet, pianist Park Jong-hae, and clarinetist Kim Woo-yeon, all of whom are alumni of Kumho Young Artists.

The Kalachi String Quartet, opening the first stage of Classic Vibe on July 2, is a string quartet team founded around the late violinist Kwon Hyuk-joo, consisting of violinist Jang Yoo-jin (30), violist Lee Hanna (35), and cellist Shim Jun-ho (33). In this performance, violinist Kang Soo-yeon (31), who joined in 2018, will not participate, and the unit stage will be centered on the original members Jang Yoo-jin, Lee Hanna, and Shim Jun-ho.

In the first part of the performance, they will play repertoire that best showcases the charm of each combination: 'viola + cello,' 'violin + cello,' and 'violin + viola,' presenting a diverse chamber music stage that highlights the individuality of each instrument. The program includes Ludwig van Beethoven's 'Duo for Viola and Cello,' subtitled 'Duet for Two Glasses,' Zolt?n Kod?ly's 'Duo for Violin and Cello,' and Handel's Passacaglia from Suite No. 7 for violin and viola by Johan Halvorsen. The second part will feature Mozart's string trio Divertimento.

Pianist Park Jong-hae (30), who was Kumho Art Hall's resident musician last year, will grace the second stage of the 'Classic Vibe' series on July 9. Park established himself as a next-generation representative Korean pianist by winning second place at the Dublin International Competition at age 17 in 2008 and placing at the Queen Elisabeth Competition in 2010. In 2018, he further expanded his activities on the European stage by winning second place at the prestigious G?za Anda Competition.

Park Jong-hae will begin the first part of the stage with music by two giants of French Impressionism, Debussy and Ravel. He plans to create a serene and mysterious atmosphere with Debussy's Suite Bergamasque and Ravel's Sonatine, followed by a performance of 'Play Piano Play' by Friedrich Gulda, a renowned pianist and composer known as one of the 'Viennese Trio.' In the second part, he will perform Schumann's Carnival.

The final stage of Classic Vibe on July 16 will be decorated by clarinetist Kim Woo-yeon (28). Kim has begun to stand out by winning major clarinet competitions such as 3rd place at the Markneukirchen International Competition in Germany, 1st place at the Beijing International Competition, and 2nd place at the Saverio Mercadante Clarinet Competition. She attracted attention as the first Korean student of the world-renowned clarinetist Sabine Meyer. She served as associate principal player of the Falun Dala Sinfonietta and is currently pursuing the highest performance degree at the Dresden University of Music. For this stage, she will specially perform masterpieces composed for violin and piano as clarinet and piano ensembles with pianist Park Jong-hae. The program includes Beethoven's Violin Sonata No. 5 'Spring,' Schumann's Violin Sonata No. 1, and Franck's Violin Sonata.

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