Ennio Morricone's Film Music Conveyed Through Harmonica

Harmonist Park Jong-sung's Cine Concert at Lotte Concert Hall on the 23rd

Jongseong Park [Photo by Lotte Cultural Foundation, (c) 2018. CHULUI SONG]

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Byung-hee] Harmonica player Park Jong-seong will perform on the Cine Concert stage at Lotte Concert Hall on the 23rd.

The Cine Concert at Lotte Concert Hall is a stage where film and music come together. In this Cine Concert, Park Jong-seong will highlight the music of Ennio Morricone, who passed away last July. Morricone was a legendary Italian film music composer who won the Academy Award for music at the age of 88.

On this stage, Park Jong-seong will present Morricone's representative works, loved across generations for their lyrical melodies, with the deep tone of the harmonica, including "Gabriel's Oboe" from The Mission, as well as "Love Affair," "Cinema Paradiso," "Return to the Sunset," and "The Legend of the Pianist." Especially, the music from the films "The Sleepless" and "Return to the Sunset" will be performed as a harmonica trio by Park Jong-seong, Jang Seok-beom, and Kim Hoe-chang. The piano accompaniment will be handled by Jo Young-hoon.

Park Jong-seong first gained recognition as a domestic harmonica soloist by winning the gold medal in the youth tremolo category at the Asia-Pacific Harmonica Competition held in Japan in 2002. At the same competition held in China in 2008, he earned the honor of triple crown winner (adult solo, duo, and ensemble). At the World Harmonica Championship, known as the "Olympics of the Harmonica" and held every four years in Germany, he achieved the remarkable feat of becoming the first Korean to win first place in the tremolo solo category and second place in the jazz chromatic category with his original compositions.

From 2015, Park Jong-seong also appeared as a soloist alongside soprano Jo Sumi on her nationwide tour concerts for more than three years. Jo Sumi said, "I give great applause and respect to his musical world that moves our hearts with the amazing and fantastic sounds created by the small instrument called the harmonica."