Dubai: The Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra, one of the oldest orchestras in South Korea and one of Asia’s top international orchestras, is embarking on its first-ever tour to the UAE, with a two-night debut concert at Abu Dhabi Classics 2024, next month.
Abu Dhabi Classics 2024, is a musical event organised by the UAE's Department of Culture and Tourism, which invites world-class performers, including ballet troupes, orchestras, and musicians, to perform in the UAE capital. The event is part of the emirate’s aim to strengthen its position as a Unesco (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation) designated ‘City of Music’.
As part of this year’s lineup, the Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra has been invited to perform in the UAE in November.
For its first ever concert in the UAE, on November 7, the orchestra will be joined by one of the most renowned violin stars, Korean-American violinist Sarah Chang.
Since her debut at the age of eight, as a child prodigy, under the direction of world-renowned conductor Zubin Mehta, violinist Sarah Chang has impressed audiences worldwide for the emotional depth and refinement of her musical performances.
Under the baton of Jaap van Zweden, one of today’s leading music conductors, the Orchestra and Sarah Chang will perform Sibelius’ Violin Concerto in D minor, written in 1904.
In the second part of the evening, Chang and the Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra will be playing Dmitri Shostakovich’s acclaimed Symphony No. 5 in D minor, which was premiered in 1937.
For its second concert in the capital, on November 8, the Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra will be joined by Korea’s rising violin star: In Mo Yang.
The Orchestra will play one of the most virtuosi pieces of the Classical repertoire: Bruch’s violin concerto from 1868, which is probably one of the most well-known and celebrated violin concerto worldwide.
In the second part of the evening, the Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra will be playing the famous and iconic Symphony No. 5 in C minor from Ludwig van Beethoven.
Alongside their concerts, the orchestra members will conduct master classes for UAE students, offering valuable musical insight and advancing cultural exchange through education.
Tickets for the concerts are available on the official website of the global tickets platform, Ticketmaster.
Concert details
Dates: Thursday, November 7, and Friday, November 8, 2024
Venue: Emirates Palace Auditorium
Doors Open: 7pm
Show Starts: 8pm
The Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra tour
The Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra (SPO) began their latest tour with performances across three Korean cities — Gwangju, Daegu, and Busan — in October, led by the CEO of the orchestra, Jaewal Jung, and Jaap van Zweden as their newly appointed musical director. Their next stop is the UAE.
The SPO performs a wide range of public concerts including large scale outdoor concert such as ‘Park Concert’, ‘Riverside Concert’ and concerts held nearby you such as ‘Neighborhood Concerts’, ‘Korea’s National Liberation Day Concert’, ‘Rush Hour Talk Concert’, and ‘Museum Concert’.
It also runs programs for classical music enthusiasts of various ages from ‘Kids Concert’ to digital contents for grown-ups and master classes for young conductors and musicians.
In 2010, the orchestra embarked on its first overseas tour to nine cities in Italy, Germany, Czech Republic and Russia. This followed the orchestra's European festival tour in 2011, which included the world-famous Edinburgh International Festival. In 2012, the orchestra won standing ovations and wide acclaim for its North American tour. In 2014, the SPO toured to four cities in Europe, where the orchestra received rave reviews from critics and audiences. The orchestra went on to established itself as a major Asian orchestra through performances invited by the National Center for the Performing Arts in Beijing and the Suntory Hall in Tokyo in 2015. In November 2018, the SPO consolidated its status as a world-class orchestra, through touring in Paris and Lucerne. In 2019, SPO successfully finished its Russian tour, serving as cultural diplomat of the country. In 2022, the SPO embarked on the European tour in four cities – Salzburg, Amsterdam, Vienna and London, performed in one of the most prestigious concert halls in the planet including Großes Festspielhaus (Salzburg), Concertgebouw (Amsterdam), Musikverein (Vienna), after which the orchestra reinforced its reputation as a leading orchestra in Asia.
It also became the first Asian orchestra to sign contract with the Deutsche Grammophon label. Some of the SPO’s renowned recordings include the masterworks by Beethoven, Tchaikovsky, and Mahler. Also recording of Korean composer Isang Yun conducted by Osmo Vänskä has been released in August 2022 with BIS label.
Sarah Chang
Recognised as one of the world’s great violinists, since her debut with the New York Philharmonic at the age of eight, she has performed with the greatest orchestras, conductors and accompanists internationally in a career spanning more than two decades. Her repertoire includes performances with North American orchestras as the New York Philharmonic, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Philadelphia Orchestra, Chicago Symphony, National Symphony Orchestra, Boston Symphony, and Cleveland Symphony. She has also performed at the Hollywood Bowl and at the Tangle wood, Ravinia, and Aspen Music Festivals, among others. With a career that has blossomed internationally, her European engagements have included performances with the Berlin Philharmonic, Vienna Philharmonic, and all the principal London Orchestras. She performs regularly in Austria, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom, and her engagements in Asia have brought her to audiences in China, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Singapore, Australia, and New Zealand. As an accomplished recital and chamber musician, Chang regularly travels the world, performing with such artists as Pinchas Zukerman, Yefim Bronfman, Leif Ove Andsnes, Yo-Yo Ma, Isaac Stern, Wolfgang Sawallisch, and members of the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra.
Her most recent recording for EMI Classics, performances of Brahms and Bruch violin concertos with Kurt Masur and the Dresdner Philharmonic was received to excellent critical and popular acclaim and was her 20th album for the label.
Her recording of Vivaldi’s Four Seasons attracted international commendation, and she has also recorded Prokofiev Violin Concerto No.1 and Shostakovich Violin Concerto No.1 live with the Berliner Philharmoniker under the baton of Sir Simon Rattle, Fire and Ice, an album of popular shorter works for violin and orchestra with Placido Domingo conducting the Berliner Philharmoniker, the Dvorak concerto with the London Symphony Orchestra and Sir Colin Davis, as well as several chamber music and sonata discs with artists including pianists Leif Ove Andsnes and Lars Vogt.
In 2006, Chang was honored as one of 20 Top Women in Newsweek Magazine’s “Women and Leadership, 20 Powerful Women Take Charge” issue. In March 2008, she was honoured as a Young Global Leader for 2008 by the World Economic Forum (WEF) for her professional achievements, commitment to society and potential in shaping the future of the world.
In 2005, Yale University dedicated achairin Sprague Hall in Sarah Chang’s name and in 2012 Harvard University gave her the 'Distinguished Leadership in the Arts Award'. For the June 2004 Olympic games, she was given the honour of running with the Olympic Torch in New York, and that same month, became the youngest person ever to receive the Hollywood Bowl's Hall of Fame award. She was awarded the International Accademia Musicale Chi Giana Prize in Sienna, Italy, in 2004, and is a former recipient of the Avery Fisher Prize, Gramophone’s ‘Young Artist of the Year’ award, Germany’s “Echo” Schallplattenpreis, “Newcomer of the Year” honours at the International Classical Music Awards in London, and Korea’s “Nan Pa” award. She has also been named the US Embassy’s Artistic Ambassador from 2011.
In mo-yang
Korean violinist In mo-yang is the first prize winner of the 2022 Jean Sibelius Violin Competition and the 54th International Violin Competition “Premio Paganini”.
He has performed with many renowned conductors such as Fabio Luisi, Neeme Järvi, Myung-whun Chung, James Gaffigan, and Osmo Vänskä. His concerto appearances include Orchestre National de France, Lucerne Symphony Orchestra, Zurich Philharmonic Orchestra, Danish National Symphony Orchestra, Richmond Symphony Orchestra, Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra, and Orchestra del Teatro Carlo Felice.
In 2021, he released his second Deutsche Grammophon album The Genetics of Strings. His debut album - Paganini: 24 Caprices - was recorded live as part of the Kumho Art Hall residency, and released under the same label in 2019.
Yang studied at the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston, where he was the only violinist in its highly selective Artist Diploma program. He is currently based in Germany, where he is pursuing a Master's degree under Antje Weithaas at Hochschule für Musik 'Hanns Eisler'.
He plays on a violin made by G.B. Guadagnini of Turin, loaned to him by J & A Beare Foundation and the Beare's International Violin Society for The International Jean Sibelius Violin Competition
Jaap van Zweden
Jaap van Zweden has risen rapidly in the past decade to become one of today’s most sought-after conductors.
About the performance in Abu Dhabi, he stated: “I look forward to engaging with Abu Dhabi’s young and passionate audiences.”
Born in Amsterdam, Jaap van Zweden, was appointed the youngest-ever concertmaster of Amsterdam’s Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra when he was just 19. He began his conducting career almost 20 years later, in 1995.
Jaap van Zweden who began his tenure as the 26th music director of the New York Philharmonic in September 2018, has also served as the music director of the Hong Kong Philharmonic, since 2012. He became the music director of the Seoul Philharmonic in 2024. He has conducted orchestras on three continents, appearing as guest with, in Europe, the Orchestre de Paris, Amsterdam’s Royal Concert Orchestra, Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra, Vienna Philharmonic, Berlin Philharmonic, and London Symphony Orchestra, and, in the United States, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, The Cleveland Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic, and other distinguished ensembles.
As a guest conductor between 2023 and 2024, Zweden worked with renowned orchestras such as the Chicago Symphony, the San Francisco Symphony, the Vienna Symphony, the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, the Staatskapelle Berlin, the Orchestra dell’Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, the Tonhalle-Orchestra Zurich, and the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra.
His New York Philharmonic recordings also include the World Premiere of David Lang’s prisoner of the state (2020), and Wolfe’s Grammy-nominated Fire in my mouth (2019), both released on the Decca Gold label. He conducted the Hong Kong Philharmonic in first-ever performances in Hong Kong of Wagner’s RingCycle, released on the Naxos label.
He remains Conductor Emeritus of the Antwerp Symphony Orchestra and Honorary Chief Conductor of the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic, where he was Chief Conductor (2005–13); he also served as Chief Conductor of the Royal Flanders Orchestra (2008–11), and as Music Director of the Dallas Symphony Orchestra (2008–18). Under his leadership, the Hong Kong Philharmonic was named Gramophone’s Orchestra of the Year in 2019. He was named Musical America’s 2012 Conductor of the Year and was the subject of an October 2018 CBS 60 Minutes profile on the occasion of his arrival at the New York Philharmonic.
