Horn Player Kim Hongpark Recital "Metamorphosis"...Shedding New Light on the Present of the Horn

At the IBK Chamber Hall of the Seoul Arts Center on March 13

Horn player Kim Hongpark, professor at Seoul National University College of Music, will give a solo recital titled "Metamorphosis" at the IBK Chamber Hall of the Seoul Arts Center on March 13.

The concert title "Metamorphosis" refers to the process in which the essence or form of a being changes. It reflects his intention to break away from preconceived notions of the horn and its performance and to present a new transformation. "Metamorphosis" is also the title of a piece composed by Son Ilhun and dedicated to Professor Kim, which will receive its world premiere at this recital.

In this performance, Professor Kim will newly reexamine the present of the horn, focusing on late Romantic and contemporary works. He said, "I want to show another charm of the horn as a solo instrument."

The first half of the program consists of solo horn works without piano. The opening piece will be "I Threw a Shoe at a Cat (2017)" by Australian composer Catherine Likhuta. As the title suggests, playful and unpredictable sounds appear rapidly, refreshing the atmosphere. This will be followed by "Four Improvisations" by Russian composer Vitaly Buyanovsky.

In the second half, piano accompaniment will be added. "Cantecor" by French composer Henri Büsser will be performed with the characteristically gentle French melodic line, followed by the world premiere of the new work "Metamorphosis," composed by Son Ilhun and dedicated to Professor Kim. Written for horn and piano, composer Son Ilhun said, "I tried to capture the warm tone and resonance of Kim Hongpark," adding, "It is a time of musical dialogue that they create together, as if conversing with the piano, or playing as they exchange playful gestures." The final piece will be York Bowen's Horn Sonata.

Tickets for the concert can be reserved on the Seoul Arts Center website and through Nolticket.

Professor Kim Hongpark graduated from Seoul Arts High School and Seoul National University College of Music, then completed his master's degree at the Universität Mozarteum Salzburg in Austria, studying under Radovan Vlatković. He subsequently completed the Konzertexamen program at the Berlin University of the Arts under Christian-Friedrich Dallmann. From 2007 to 2010, he served as associate principal horn of the Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra under music director Myung-Whun Chung, and from 2012 to 2014 he was associate principal horn at the Royal Swedish Opera. In 2015 he was appointed principal horn of the Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra in Norway, where he performed until 2023, and since 2023 he has been a professor at Seoul National University College of Music. In July 2024, he released his first full-length album, "Schumann & Brahms," on the Sony Classical label.

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