Maestro Chung Myung-whun will play the piano and also take the baton at One Korea Orchestra’s upcoming concert.

One Korea Orchestra, led by the 66-year-old maestro, will hold its third performance at the Seoul Arts Center on Aug. 18, presenting Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 23 in A major and Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 6 in B minor.

The organizers had hoped to invite a North Korean pianist to perform the Mozart piece, but failed. Instead, Chung will play the piano for the piece. 

Violinist Lim Ji-young, who won first prize at the 2015 Queen Elisabeth Competition, and cellist Mun Tae-guk, who won first prize at the 2019 International Tchaikovsky Competition for Young Musicians, are to take the stage.

One Korea Orchestra was founded in 2017 out of hope for peace on the Korean Peninsula. It aims to unite musicians from the two Koreas onstage. The orchestra currently consists of established South Korean musicians.

Chung has tried to collaborate with North Korean artists on multiple occasions. Though there have been joint performances abroad, he could not pull off a joint performance in South Korea.

The earnings from the Aug. 18 performance will be donated to a fund that helps children in North Korea.


By Im Eun-byel (silverstar@heraldcorp.com)