2027 Seoul Philharmonic to Spotlight 'Freedom' Through Beethoven... Cho Seongjin to Perform with Orchestra for First Time in 11 Years

The Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra will mark the 200th anniversary of Beethoven's death in 2027 with a concert performance of Fidelio, the composer's only opera. It will also present concerts featuring leading Korean pianists, including Cho Seongjin, Sunwoo Yekwon and Park Jaehong. In particular, Cho Seongjin will return to the Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra's regular concert stage for the first time in 11 years, since 2016, and give the Asian premiere of a piano concerto by Korean composer Shin Donghoon, who is attracting attention on the world stage. Jaap van Zweden will conduct the performances on June 24 and 25.

The Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra announced its 2027 season schedule at a press conference at Sejong Center for the Performing Arts on the 19th.

"As 2027 marks the 200th anniversary of Beethoven's death, we have built the program around Beethoven," said Jeong Jaewal, president of the Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra. "We chose 'freedom' as next year's theme, taking into account its connection to Beethoven and the freedom of musical expression."

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Music Director Jaap van Zweden said Beethoven, who lost his hearing, was a composer who sought to free himself from his illness, adding that Beethoven's life and music offer a way to reflect on the meaning of "freedom." He also stressed that orchestras should pursue musical freedom. "An orchestra, too, strives to perform freely on stage," he said. "That freedom doesn't come automatically; it comes from delving deeply into the music through practice."

Van Zweden said Fidelio best embodies the theme of freedom. "The protagonist of Fidelio is freed from prison and attains true freedom," he said.

Fidelio will feature soprano Jennifer Holloway as Leonore, tenor Simon O'Neill as Florestan, baritone Lee Donghwan as Don Pizarro, and soprano Hwang Sumi as Marzelline, among others.

The Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra will present Fidelio three times in total with the SeAH Woon Hyung Lee Foundation. The orchestra will perform it twice, with one additional performance presented by the foundation.

Mahler's Symphony No. 5 in March and Beethoven's Symphony No. 9, "Choral," in December will each be performed three times next year. It will be the first time the Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra has performed the same program three times.

"We want to see whether the number of classical music audiences is actually growing by holding three performances," Jeong said. He added that he could feel public demand for classical music had grown considerably through concerts for the public, such as "Our Neighborhood Concerts," After-Work Concerts, Museum Concerts and Riverside Concerts, rather than regular concerts held at venues such as the Seoul Arts Center and Lotte Concert Hall.

"The Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra gives around 140 performances a year, and concerts for the public account for about 100 of them, a much larger share than regular concerts, which are mainly attended by classical music fans," Jeong said. "At these performances, the barriers to classical music have come down considerably, and I feel that the preconception that classical music is difficult has also eased significantly." He added, "There is no doubt that ticket demand is growing substantially. If the three-performance format proves successful, we will consider increasing the number of performances in the future."

Music Director Jaap van Zweden: "Musicians Are Listening to One Another... The Balance Between Front and Back Has Improved"

Van Zweden will begin the fourth year of his tenure next year, entering the second half of his five-year term. He said that since he took up the post, the Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra musicians have become much better at listening to other sections rather than focusing only on their own playing.

"The Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra was already a wonderful orchestra before I took up the post," he said. "I believe musicians need to understand and be aware not only of their own playing but also of what the other instruments are playing, and that has improved greatly. As a result, their understanding of how the orchestra works has also grown." He said the orchestra's overall sound balance had naturally improved as well. Rather than the sound coming only from the front, it now has depth and balance, as if the sound were taking shape from the back. "I hope the sound will be balanced, with the sound coming from the back of the orchestra, as it does with the Berlin Philharmonic," he said. "For this kind of sound to emerge, the musicians need to understand one another well, and we have definitely improved in that regard."

Following its North American tour last year, which included Carnegie Hall in New York, the Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra successfully completed a tour of three European countries - Spain, Italy and the Netherlands - in August 2026. Its international performances will continue next year. In May, it will become the first orchestra from outside Europe to perform at the opening concert of the Prague Spring International Music Festival, where it will play Smetana's My Homeland. The orchestra will perform the same work earlier, at its regular concert in Seoul in April.

Van Zweden said the Prague Spring International Music Festival is one of Europe's historic music festivals, alongside the Salzburg Festival, adding that the performance would demonstrate the Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra's growing stature. "It is highly significant that an orchestra from outside Europe will perform at the opening concert for the first time, and that the performance will be broadcast across Europe," he said.

The Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra will continue its project to perform all of Mahler's symphonies, which began after Van Zweden took up his post. Next year, it will perform Symphony No. 5 in March and Symphony No. 3 in November. The performances will be recorded and released as albums.

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Van Zweden said he also hopes to fill the concertmaster position, which has been vacant for a long time. He stressed that a concertmaster needs not only outstanding musical ability, but also the ability to communicate with orchestra members, the role of an ambassador and representative of the orchestra, and the ability to bridge the conductor and the musicians. The concertmaster should also have the ability to perform as a soloist at the level of a guest soloist. "I hope the Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra can find such a concertmaster," he said.

At its New Year's concert next year, Japanese violinist Himari, born in 2011 and attracting worldwide attention, will appear as a soloist. Himari drew attention after making her debut as a soloist with the Berlin Philharmonic's regular concert series in March 2025, at age 13, becoming the youngest Asian soloist to do so. Van Zweden described Himari as "a performer creating a sensation in the history of the violin over the past half-century," adding that introducing Korean audiences to a performer who is in high demand around the world is itself a major achievement for the Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra.

Following Himari, pianists Park Jaehong (January), Sunwoo Yekwon (April), Cho Seongjin (June), Mao Fujita (July) and Dmitry Shishkin (July); violinists James Ehnes (April), Augustin Hadelich (May) and Daniel Lozakovich (November); and violist Tabea Zimmermann (August) will appear as soloists.

Guest conductors will include Roderick Cox (February), Yi Er (April), Tugan Sokhiev (June), Thierry Fischer (July), Emmanuel Tjeknavorian (July), David Robertson (August), Choi Soo-yeol (August), Holly Choe (October) and Jukka-Pekka Saraste (November).

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