Into the Charm of Flute and Clarinet... Seoul Winter Music Festival Opens on the 20th

Held for Three Days at the IBK Chamber Hall, Seoul Arts Center

The Seoul Winter Music Festival will be held from the 20th to the 22nd at the IBK Chamber Hall in the Seoul Arts Center.

This stage offers the chance to fully enjoy the charm of woodwind instruments, the flute and clarinet. A total of 15 performers, centered around flutists and clarinetists who have served or are serving as principals in world-renowned orchestras, will take the stage.

As flutists, Patrick Gallois, former principal of the Orchestre National de France, Henrik Wiese, principal of the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra in Germany, and Park Ji-eun, who was selected as the youngest flutist of the Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra and performed for 20 years, will participate. Gallois was also the chairman of the jury when flutist Kim Yu-bin won the 2022 ARD International Competition in Germany.

As clarinetists, Ricardo Morales, who was appointed principal of the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra at the age of 21, Giovanni Punzi, who served as principal at the Copenhagen Philharmonic and is currently principal at the Teatro Massimo Orchestra in Palermo, Italy, and Chae Jae-il, former principal of the Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra and currently a professor at the Korea National University of Arts, will participate.

Along with them, pianist Freddy Kemp, who won 3rd place at the 1998 Tchaikovsky Competition, pianist Moon Jung-jae, head of SM Entertainment's SM Classics, the Abel Quartet celebrating its 10th anniversary, and the Seoul Flute Trio will perform together.

On the first day of the festival, the 20th, Patrick Gallois, Giovanni Punzi, Park Ji-eun, the Abel Quartet, and Freddy Kemp will take the stage. On the 21st, Ricardo Morales, Henrik Wiese, the Abel Quartet, and Freddy Kemp will perform.

The final day’s concert on the 22nd will be a chamber music concert featuring all 15 performers together.

Kim So-yeon, CEO of Seoul Music Management, who planned this festival, explained that the special feature of the Seoul Winter Music Festival is that the protagonists are the flute and clarinet, which represent woodwind instruments. CEO Kim said, "The flute and clarinet are representative solo instruments that serve as important benchmarks for evaluating the level of an orchestra," adding, "We want to showcase the charm of woodwind instruments through wonderful performances by the world’s best flute and clarinet players."

CEO Kim will also take the stage on the final day of the festival, the 22nd. As a flutist, she is active in the Seoul Flute Trio, which she formed with flutist Yoon Hyun-im and Swiss flutist Philipp Yunt.