Busan concert hall marks 1st anniversary with star-studded classical festival

Busan Concert Hall will celebrate its first anniversary with a weeklong classical music festival in July, bringing together maestro Chung Myung-whun, internationally acclaimed soloists and young musicians from Busan for performances ranging from Beethoven to Mahler. Classic Busan said Tuesday that the 2026 Busan Concert Hall First Anniversary Festival will run from July 2 to 8 at the venue, which opened last year as the city’s first dedicated classical music hall. The festival will feature the Asia Philharmonic Orchestra (APO) under the direction of Chung, the hall’s artistic director. Twenty young musicians from Busan will also join the orchestra during the festival. The opening concert on July 2 will feature Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9, performed by APO alongside the Busan Metropolitan Chorus and Ulsan Metropolitan Chorus. Soprano Lee Hye-ji, mezzo-soprano Yang Song-mi, tenor Kim Jung-hoon and baritone Park Ju-sung will appear as soloists. On July 5, Chung and APO will perform Mahler’s Symphony No. 5, one of the composer’s best-known works. A July 7 concert titled “Into the Ne

Original source: Korea Times