Sibelius Competition Winner Suye Park to Perform Sibelius Concerto with National Symphony Orchestra

National Symphony to Hold Regular Concert at Seoul Arts Center on March 7

Korean Premiere of T??r’s Work and Sibelius’s Symphony No. 2 to be Performed

Violinist Suye Park, who won the Sibelius Competition last year, will perform Sibelius’s Violin Concerto with the National Symphony Orchestra.

The National Symphony will hold its 262nd regular concert at the Concert Hall of the Seoul Arts Center on March 7. The program will explore the lineage of Nordic sound through works by Jean Sibelius, a symbol of 20th-century Northern European music, and Erkki-Sven T??r, a leading contemporary composer from Estonia.

Violinist Suye Park. National Symphony
(c) Jino Park

The opening piece is 'Incantation of the Tempest,' composed by T??r in 2014. With its intense, storm-evoking sound and condensed energy, this impressive work will have its Korean premiere at this concert.

Next, Sibelius’s Violin Concerto will be performed. Known for capturing the unique sense of solitude characteristic of Nordic music, this piece demands a balance of overwhelming virtuosity and intimate emotional expression from the performer. On this stage, Suye Park, who gained international attention by winning the 13th Sibelius Competition in 2025, will join as soloist. With her clear tone and delicate interpretation, she is expected to convey both the tension and lyricism of the work.

In the second half of the program, Sibelius’s Symphony No. 2 will be performed. This symphony, the most beloved among Sibelius’s works, realizes the scale and narrative of Nordic nature through its organic structure and grand development.

The concert will be conducted by Olari Elts, Music Director and Principal Conductor of the Estonian National Symphony Orchestra. Elts has deep ties to the Nordic music scene, having served as Principal Guest Conductor of the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra, among other roles. He has consistently championed works by Nordic composers including T??r, Kalevi Aho, and Heino Eller.

A representative from the National Symphony stated, "We have focused on the cold, transparent timbre and orchestral density that are unique to Nordic music. From T??r’s condensed energy to Sibelius’s broad phrasing, the audience will be able to experience the wide spectrum of Nordic sound in a single concert."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.