Annual classical music festival brings together established and young artists in the sports and resort city of Pyeongchang


PYEONGCHANG, Gangwon Province ― Great Mountains International Music Festival & School, an annual classical music event held in Pyeongchang, Gangwon Province, is opening a bright future for the country’s classical music scene by acting as a bridge between established and young Korean artists.

More than 60 distinguished and young up-and-coming artists collaborated in a series of high-quality performances, mesmerizing the audience with their musical harmony.

“I once again felt that the performance by Korean artists has advanced not only to an international level but also to a universal level. I was deeply moved,” said violinist Chung Kyung-hwa who has been leading the festival with her elder sister, cellist Chung Myung-hwa, since last year.

GMMFS, in its ninth run this year, brought a number of virtuosos active in the international music scene, including the Chung sisters, violinist Bae Ik-hwan, violist Nobuko Imai, star Korean pianists Kim Sun-wook and Cho Seong-jin, and violinist Clara-Jumi Kang. The list also included violinists Kim Nam-yun and Daniel Austrich, cellist Kim Min-ji and pianist Shin Soo-jung.

“I feel lucky to have this rare opportunity to appreciate the performances together of acclaimed artists and young artists in this beautiful resort city,” said Cho Young, a 35-year-old classical music fan from Seoul.

The highlight of the festival was the opening of the new outdoor stage called “Music Tent” which can accommodate about 1,300 people. The outdoor stage instantly grabbed the attention of the audience and the artists, not only because of its horn-shaped roof and glass walls, but also its function as a concert hall for classical music.

“I am also very satisfied with the sound quality and the acoustic balance produced in the Music Tent,” Chung told reporters while having lunch on Saturday.

The festival’s biggest orchestral performance was held in the new venue on Friday. Sung Shi-yeon, assistant conductor of the Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra, led the GMMFS orchestra in a performance of Joseph Haydn’s “Creation,” featuring acclaimed Korean and international singers, including soprano Im Sun-hae, tenor Kim Woo-kyung and baritone Nicolay Borchev.

The new multi-purpose facility, built to the tune of some 11 billion won ($9.5 million), will offer more cultural programs, Kim Nam-soo, secretary general of the festival’s main organizer Gangwon Arts & Culture Foundation, said in a previous interview.

The three-week festival focuses on the relationship between music and dance.

Two stars from the American Ballet Theater, Maxim Beloserkovsky and Irina Dvorovenko, and two Korean dancers ― Kim Joo-won, guest principal dancer for the Korean National Ballet and her dance partner Lee Dong-hoon ― will help to visualize the overwhelming combination of music and dance.

The Chung sisters, the two artistic directors of the festival, performed Brahms’ Piano Quartet in G Minor, Op. 25 on Sunday as part of the festival’s “Distinguished Artists Series,” joined by pianist Peter Frankl and violist Maxim Rysanov.

The series includes a collaboration between The Michelangelo Quartet led by violist Nobuko Imai and pianist Kim Sun-wook. They are to perform Brahms’ Piano Quintet in F Minor, Op. 34, on Aug. 3.

Kim will also collaborate with Chung Myung-hwa on Debussy’s cello sonata on Aug. 4. Distinguished artists will also perform Igor Stravinsky’s suite from “A Soldier’s Tale” with a tango on the same day. For “A Soldier’s Tale,” top Korean actor Ahn Sung-ki has been tapped to narrate the story of a soldier who trades his fiddle to the devil for a book that tells the future.

For the first time, the festival adopted an “H-seat” system. “H,” meaning “High Contributor,” are tickets priced at 250,000 won. Of that fee, 200,000 won will be used to cover the operating expenses of the festival to enhance the quality of the event while keeping the regular ticket prices low, organizers said.

The GMMFS will run through Aug. 11 at the Alpensia Resort and other venues in Gangwon Province. For more information on the festival, call (02) 725-3394-5 or visit www.gmmfs.com.

By Cho Chung-un (christory@heraldcorp.com)