Cellist Yang Sung-won Appointed as New Artistic Director of Pyeongchang Daegwallyeong Music Festival

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Heeyoon] Cellist Yang Sungwon (56) has been appointed as the artistic director of the Pyeongchang Daegwallyeong Music Festival.

Artistic Director Yang Sung-won of the Pyeongchang Daegwallyeong Music Festival. Photos by Jean Lim [Photo by Gangwon Cultural Foundation]

On the 9th, the Gangwon Cultural Foundation announced that cellist Yang Sungwon has been appointed as the 4th artistic director of the Pyeongchang Daegwallyeong Music Festival.

Newly appointed artistic director Yang will lead the Pyeongchang Daegwallyeong Music Festival as the 4th artistic director, following the 1st director Kang Hyo (violinist), 2nd directors Jung Myung-hwa (violinist) and Jung Kyung-hwa (cellist), and 3rd director Son Yeol-eum (pianist).

Yang, who has been active as a leading cellist representing Korea, studied under Philippe Muller at the Conservatoire de Paris and the cello master J?nos Starker at Indiana University Jacobs School of Music in the United States. Last year, he released the album "Beethoven: Complete Works for Cello and Piano" and held a nationwide tour concert, demonstrating active engagement in his career.

He received the Artist of the Year Award in 2006, the 4th Daewon Music Performance Award and the 1st Gekseok Artist Award in 2009, and in 2017 was honored with the Chevalier of the Order of Arts and Letters by the French government. He is currently a professor at Yonsei University College of Music and a visiting professor at the Royal Academy of Music (RAM) in London, UK.

Since its inception in 2004, the Pyeongchang Daegwallyeong Music Festival has steadily grown to become a leading classical music festival in Korea. Last July, it was held over the longest period ever (3 weeks) and on the largest scale in the Pyeongchang area.

This year, the 20th Pyeongchang Daegwallyeong Music Festival will take place from July 26 to August 5 across Pyeongchang and the Gangwon Province area.

The Gangwon Cultural Foundation stated, "We expect that the Pyeongchang Daegwallyeong Music Festival, celebrating its 20th anniversary this year, will achieve a new leap forward by creating synergy between the new artistic director and the accumulated achievements and history of the festival."

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