Hope Messages Delivered at 'Hanwha Symphony Festival 2020'

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Soyeon] The Hanwha Symphony Festival, hosted by Hanwha Group and the Seoul Arts Center, has concluded its two-week-long journey.

According to Hanwha Group on the 12th, the Hanwha Symphony Festival began with the opening performance by the Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra on the 28th of last month and continued until the performance by the KBS Symphony Orchestra on the 10th of this month. A total of 14 top-tier domestic symphony orchestras participated, presenting 14 high-quality classical concerts at the Seoul Arts Center.

Although the Hanwha Symphony Festival, which is usually held every spring, was canceled due to COVID-19, Hanwha Group and the Seoul Arts Center decided to hold the performances to deliver a message of hope to the public exhausted by COVID-19 and the cultural and artistic community that had been restrained.

Given the decision to hold the festival amid the COVID-19 situation, thorough measures were taken to prevent the spread of the virus, including temperature checks and health questionnaires for attendees, electronic registration using QR codes, mandatory mask-wearing during performances, and spaced seating in the audience.

This year’s Hanwha Symphony Festival, fitting its title "Special," featured numerous top musicians transcending generations and nationalities, collaborating with representative orchestras nationwide to deliver highly refined performances that delighted the audience’s eyes and ears.

Among the many pieces performed, Elgar’s "Nimrod" from the Enigma Variations, often played as an orchestral memorial piece, and Barber’s "Adagio for Strings" conveyed messages of comfort and hope, deeply moving the audience.

Despite operating only about 1,000 seats per performance due to spaced seating, most of the 14 performances were sold out, with a total of 13,710 people attending these high-quality classical concerts that illuminated midsummer nights.

In particular, for those unable to visit the venue in person, all performances were live-streamed via a 400-inch monitor installed on the outdoor stage of the Seoul Arts Center and online. The total number of viewers who accessed the online live stream reached 291,341.

The Symphony Festival began in 1989 to commemorate the first anniversary of the opening of the Seoul Arts Center Music Hall and marked its 32nd edition this year. It has firmly established itself as Korea’s representative classical festival, the largest event in the domestic music scene encompassing not only classical professionals but also the general public.

From 2000, when Hanwha Group began sponsoring, until 2019, a total of 337 performances were held, featuring 339 symphony orchestras and 385 soloists (teams) on stage, performing 985 pieces, with approximately 500,000 spectators attending the Hanwha Symphony Festival.