A Classic Festival Returns with Spring... The 18th Seoul Spring Chamber Music Festival

From the 26th to the 7th of next month
69 Performers, Total 13 Performances

"Convincing people who are not familiar with chamber music to come to the concert was a big challenge. If you come without the prejudice that it is difficult, it is easy to understand, so if there is someone whose feelings about chamber music change through this festival, that is success."

Cellist Kang Seung-min, Artistic Director Kang Dong-seok, and Violinist Han Su-jin participating in the 18th Seoul Spring Chamber Music Festival.
[Photo by Seoul Spring Chamber Music Festival Executive Committee]

Seoul Spring Chamber Music Festival (SSF), Korea's representative chamber music festival, has returned with a chamber music stage featuring over 70 domestic and international performers, overcoming the pandemic.

At a recent press conference held at the Yoon Bo-sun Old House, Kang Dong-seok, SSF Artistic Director, expressed his thoughts, saying, "Through SSF, which has continued for 18 years, it is enjoyable to introduce excellent works that are not well known in Korea and to showcase young and talented performers."

SSF, held from the 26th of this month to the 7th of next month, will present 13 performances over 12 days under this year's theme, "The More, The Merrier!" Starting with the opening performance on the 26th, the festival will offer audiences the charm of various chamber music at Sejong Chamber Hall in Sejong Center for the Performing Arts, IBK Chamber Hall in Seoul Arts Center, and Yoon Bo-sun Old House until May 7.

Cellist Kang Seung-min, who attended the conference, said, "Large-scale works with big ensembles are not easy to encounter even abroad," and added, "I hope this festival program can deliver greater joy to the audience with its grand scale."

Violinist Han Su-jin said, "The more instruments there are, the more the unique sounds of individual instruments are maintained while moving toward one ideal, which is the grandeur and charm of chamber music."

Kang Dong-seok, Artistic Director of the Seoul Spring Chamber Music Festival
[Photo by Seoul Spring Chamber Music Festival]

In particular, the two performers cited the tension of having to perform new repertoires and pieces they are hearing for the first time every year as the unique charm of SSF. Kang Seung-min said, "I felt it was an opportunity to promote contemporary pieces rather than fixed repertoires, and I liked the freshness of that diversity."

Director Kang emphasized, "The most important thing in preparing SSF throughout the year is securing performers, and next is discovering new pieces to decide the repertoire," adding, "There are many good pieces as well as well-known ones, and we strive to introduce pieces that are not well known domestically." He mentioned E. Hartmann's 'Piano Trio in Bb Major' and J. Raph's 'String Octet in C Major' as memorable works in this year's program.

Fitting the theme "The More, The Merrier," this year's SSF is composed of large-scale chamber music stages such as sextets and octets, which are rarely seen. Regarding this, Kang Seung-min introduced, "Sextet and octet stages, which are hard to encounter normally, are the privileges of the festival."

Violinist Han Su-jin, who noted that "for musicians, chamber music is one of the things that can make music enjoyable," confessed, "If you listen attentively to each other and listen with your heart and harmonize, the happiness that comes from that is hard to express in words."

Director Kang said, "Considering our sensitive Korean audience, we paid a lot of attention to the selection of pieces," and added, "I hope the audience spends a comfortable time feeling the charm of chamber music."

The Fringe Festival, which can only be experienced at SSF, will also be held simultaneously. Until the 22nd, special stages by emerging musicians will visit audiences at venues such as the Seoul Museum of Craft Art, Namsan Seoul Tower Plaza, and the National Museum of Korea.

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