'2021 Seocho Chamber Music Festival' Kicks Off

From April 22, a classical chamber music relay concert featuring 70 youth artist teams will be held... Utilizing rich local cultural infrastructure to provide performance opportunities for youth artists and revitalize small venues... 181 teams applied for 70 spots, confirming strong interest from youth artists once again

[Asia Economy Reporter Jongil Park] Seocho-gu (Mayor Eunhee Cho) will hold the relay concert “2021 Seocho Chamber Music Festival,” featuring 70 youth artist teams with talent and skills in the classical field, from the 22nd through December.

The “Seocho Chamber Music Festival” is a relay-style concert centered on classical music, utilizing the rich cultural and artistic infrastructure of the Seocho Music Culture District (from Banpodaero to the area around the Seoul Arts Center). Youth artists participate as the main performers, presenting various chamber music performances.

Starting with the piano trio performance by the “Trio Rafine” team at Ricodia Art Hall at 7:30 PM on the 22nd, individual stages of 70 youth artist teams will continue until November 18th at 15 small concert venues within Seocho-gu.

Beautiful classical melodies created by youth artist teams with various ensembles such as string quartets and woodwind quintets will be performed year-round at small concert venues throughout the region, leading audiences into the world of classical music.

The performance fees have also been increased from the previous 1 million KRW to up to 1.2 million KRW per team, and the number of performance teams has expanded from 40 to 70, providing many talented youth artists with opportunities to take the stage.

Earlier, the district held a call for applications for youth artists to participate in the “2021 Seocho Chamber Music Festival” from March 29 to April 12.

As a result of the application process, 181 teams and about 750 youth artists applied for the 70 team spots, recording a competition rate of approximately 2.6 to 1, confirming the strong interest of youth in the festival once again.

Additionally, youth artist groups selected among fierce competition, such as the “Hanuri Orchestra,” composed of musicians with developmental disabilities who have musical talents, and the “Blank Saxophone Ensemble,” which performs not only domestically but also worldwide, are expected to present unique performances.

All performances are free to attend on-site with online advance reservations and seat distancing according to quarantine guidelines, and if seats are not fully booked, visitors can come directly to the venue.

Residents wishing to attend performances can easily make reservations through the Seocho-gu Office website’s integrated reservation link or smartphone QR codes.

Meanwhile, this year, to provide stage experience and opportunities to university students in their growth process, 12 university student teams will be selected to operate a “University Chamber Music Festival” during the August vacation period, along with customized performance planning lectures.

Also, on December 3, a year-end concert “Seocho Chamber Music Festival Youth Orchestra,” composed of youth artists participating in the 2021 Seocho Chamber Music Festival, will be held at Banpo Simsang Art Hall, creating an opportunity for youth artists to perform together on one stage.

Seocho-gu Mayor Eunhee Cho said, “Through this ‘Seocho Chamber Music Festival,’ we hope that residents can naturally enjoy culture in their daily lives, and youth artists can take a stepping stone to grow into cultural artists representing Korea,” adding, “We will continue to expand opportunities for youth artists who will be the future light of the arts.”