The Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra, led by music director and chief conductor Chung Myung-whun, will hold its first North American tour April 15-19.

Starting in Vancouver, Canada, the orchestra will also perform in Santa Barbara, Los Angeles and Seattle.

The North America tour, sponsored by Hyundai Motor, is part of maestro Chung’s efforts to create a world-class orchestra. Chung said last year that the orchestra would have to offer many recordings and tours to attract international attention.

“North America, along with Europe, is one of the best classical markets in the world. The tour, arranged on the invitation of U.S. and Canadian concert halls, will help the orchestra build its reputation in the global music market,” the orchestra said in a statement.

The upcoming tour will start at Vancouver’s Orpheum Theater. The SPO will perform Ravel’s “Ma Mere l’Oye,” Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 6 in B Minor “Pathetique,” and Korean composer Chin Un-suk’s “Su,” a concerto with the sheng, a 17-pipe traditional Chinese reed instrument.

Chinese musician Wu Wei will join in the performance of the modern piece by Chin, who is composer-in-residence of the SPO.

The SPO will perform at the prestigious Benaroya Hall in Seattle on April 16, where it will perform Ravel, Chin, Debussy’s “La Mer” and Stravinsky’s “The Firebird Suit (1919 version). On April 18, the orchestra will perform at the Granada Theater in Santa Barbara followed by the final concert the next day at the Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles. The orchestra adds Ravel’s “La Valse” to the repertoire for the last two concerts.

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