National Symphony Illuminating Behind the Scenes, Training Critics, Directors, and Recording Personnel

The National Symphony Orchestra is launching a program to train professionals in the fields of criticism, classical music video directing, and recording. The purpose is to introduce "behind-the-scenes careers" in line with the expansion of the classical music industry and to cultivate artistic talent from an industrial perspective.

Last year, the National Symphony piloted courses such as "Criticism and Writing for Classical Music Criticism" and "Classical Music Video Directing and Score Reading," which interprets orchestral scores into visual language, to understand the demand for various job categories in the arts industry. This year, the nature of these courses will be strengthened from theory-centered to "practical experience"-centered, and a new "Sound Engineering" course will be established to suit the era of performance video production.

Critique and Writing Course for Classical Music Reviews
[Photo provided by the National Symphony Orchestra]

"Criticism and Writing for Classical Music Criticism" will be held from February 24 to June 1, consisting of six lectures and five performance viewings. It aims to deepen understanding of three genres: orchestral music, ballet, and opera, and teaches criticism processes for each genre. Outstanding participants will have opportunities to contribute to classical music magazines and online platforms. The lectures will be led by Lee Yong-sook, a guest opera specialist reporter from Yonhap News Agency.

The "Classical Music Video Directing and Score Reading" course will run from February 24 to May 12 with six lectures. It includes on-site observation and camera continuity script writing during the National Symphony’s regular and special concerts, as well as practical exercises comparing directing with professional directors. The course will be taught by Sung Yoo-jin, former PD of Arte TV.

The newly introduced "Classical Music Sound Engineering" course will begin on March 8 and continue until April 3, consisting of five theory classes along with recording observation and practical sessions. Participants can directly engage in live recording of orchestral and chamber music performances, assist in album recordings, and observe on-site. Tonemeister Choi Jin, who has participated in album recordings of artists such as Baek Geon-woo, Jung Kyung-hwa, and Jo Sumi, will share vivid on-site stories.

A National Symphony official stated, "According to the National Education Statistics Center, about 5,000 classical music majors graduated last year. Through courses that allow experiencing various careers in the music industry in advance, the social entry paths for music majors will expand, and we hope this will serve as a foundation to enhance the capabilities of Korea’s cultural industry, which is gaining global attention."

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