The Tongyeong International Music Festival (TIMF), a leading annual classical music gala in South Korea, will begin this year's edition Friday as it marks its 20th anniversary.

The 2022 festival will run through April 3 in Tongyeong, on the southern coast, presenting some 30 classical concerts and performances under the theme "Vision in Diversity."

The 2020 edition of TIMF was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but it has been held in-person since last year.

The Tongyeong Festival Orchestra will open the festival at TIMF Concert Hall.

Finnish conductor Dalia Stasevska will conduct the Asian premiere of "Play: Level 1" by American composer Andrew Norman during the opening performance, along with "The Firebird Suite" by Stravinsky and "Cello Concerto in B Minor" by Dvorak. Norwegian cellist Truls Mork will collaborate with the orchestra.

The South Korean classical music ensemble Novus String Quartet will play "String Quartet No. 5" composed by South Korea-born Yun I-sang on Saturday, while the solo recital of Park Jae-hong, the winner of last year's Ferruccio Busoni International Piano Competition in Italy, will take place Monday.

Korean traditional music performances, including one by Korean folk song master Lee Hee-moon, will be also staged during the nine-day festival.

TIMF will close with a concert by the Tongyeong Festival Orchestra conducted by Markus Stenz from Germany in collaboration with Hungarian pianist Dezso Ranki.

TIMF was founded in 2002 to commemorate the famous South Korean composer Yun I-sang, who was born in Sancheong, near Tongyeong, in 1917. (Yonhap)