Violinist Suye Park, Winner of the Sibelius Competition, to Perform with the Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra

On July 17 at Seoul Arts Center Concert Hall
Performing Bruch's Violin Concerto No. 1
Conducted by Seoul Philharmonic Associate Conductor Min Kyu Song

Violinist Suye Park, who won the Jean Sibelius Competition in May, will perform with the Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra (Seoul Philharmonic) at the Seoul Arts Center Concert Hall on July 17.

Suye Park will perform Bruch's Violin Concerto No. 1 with the Seoul Philharmonic. The concert will be conducted by Min Kyu Song, who was appointed associate conductor of the Seoul Philharmonic last month.

Violinist Suye Park
[Photo by Jino Park, provided by Seoul Arts Center]

The Jean Sibelius International Violin Competition was established in 1965 to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the birth of Finland's leading composer Jean Sibelius and is held every five years. Suye Park is the second Korean to win the Jean Sibelius Competition. Previously, violinist Inmo Yang won the competition in 2022, which was held later than scheduled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Suye Park began studying violin at the age of four and has already released five albums. At age 17, in 2017, she released her debut album with BIS, becoming the youngest artist in the world to record the complete Paganini Caprices. At 18, she released her second album, 'Salut d'Amour.' Her third album, 'Journey Through a Century,' released in June 2021, was selected as 'Recording of the Month' by the prestigious British magazine Gramophone and was also recommended as 'Recording of the Year 2021' in the magazine's December 2021 digital special issue. In addition, it was nominated for the Instrumental category at the 2022 Gramophone Classical Music Awards.

In 2021, Suye Park performed Yun I-sang's Violin Concerto No. 3 with the Seoul Philharmonic under the baton of Osmo Vanska, and the live performance was released as an album in August 2022. In April 2023, she released a complete Szymanowski album with pianist Roland Pontinen, a leading artist on the BIS label. She is currently preparing to release her sixth international album, a violin solo recording titled 'Echoes of Exile.'

Suye Park entered the instrumental department of the Hanns Eisler School of Music Berlin in 2009 as its youngest student. She is currently studying with Professor Ulf Wallin in the highest performance program. Supported by the Samsung Foundation of Culture, she plays a Giovanni Battista Guadagnini violin made in Milan in 1753.

Min Kyu Song Associate Conductor of Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra
[Photo by Im Hakhyun, provided by Seoul Arts Center]

Conductor Min Kyu Song drew attention last year by becoming the first Korean to win the Guido Cantelli International Conducting Competition. He won second prize at the 2024 Hiroshima International Conducting Competition and received the Orchestra Prize at the 2022 Erich Bergel International Conducting Competition.

The Bruch Violin Concerto No. 1, which Suye Park will perform, is a captivating work consisting of a lyrical first movement, a sweet second movement, and a third movement that highlights virtuosity and vibrancy.

The concert will open with the overture to Weber's opera 'Der Freischutz.' In the second half, Mendelssohn's Symphony No. 3 'Scottish' will be performed. This dramatic masterpiece, which moves from the atmosphere of a misty old castle to a brilliant finale, is characterized by its folk flavor and classical balance, organically connecting all movements with a delicate flow.