Interview: French winds and familiar faces who sustain SSF's chamber music spirit

For a chamber music festival to continue for 20 years, many things must come together. Chief among them are a devoted artistic director, innovative programming, a stable operation and a growing interest in chamber music — a genre defined by its intimate scale, where a small group of musicians perform without a conductor.

Equally vital are the musicians themselves — both the loyal artists who return year after year and new participants who bring fresh energy — who collectively sustain the festival’s spirit and artistic quality.

For this year’s Seoul Spring Festival of Chamber Music, which began April 22 and goes to May 4, 69 artists have gathered for 14 performances.

Among them are four French wind players: oboist Olivier Doise, clarinetist Romain Guyot, flutist Matthieu Gauci-Ancelin and horn player Herve Joulain.

Doise, Guyot and Joulain are SSF regulars who clear their schedules every year for the two-week event.

“It was not easy to bring audiences to a chamber music festival. Korean audiences tend to prefer big orchestras and grand productions. Director Kang Dong-suk still fights to attract the audience, discovering new pieces not only for the piano but for wind instrument as well," Guyot said during an interview last week.

“We know we will play new pieces together — it has become a priority in our schedule,” he added.

The clarinetist, who is the principal clarinetist of the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande in Geneva and an acclaimed soloist and educator, has returned to the festival 12 times since the inauguration in 2006, making him the SFF's most frequently returning overseas musician.

Doise, principal oboist of the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France and a professor at the Conservatoire National Superieur de Musique et de Danse de Paris, also spoke about the unique energy he feels from Korean audiences. He has participated in the festival since 2015, missing only 2021 and 2022, when the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted international travel.

“Chamber music festivals usually aren’t this long,” Doise said. “Here, for two weeks, we can work, practice and rehearse — it feels like our home. Everything is so well organized that we only have to think about the music we play.”

For the past 15 years, the musicians have returned to the same hotel in central Seoul, where they stay, practice and rehearse — a small but telling detail that reflects the festival’s stable and well-established operation.

For Joulain, returning to Korea each spring has become an annual tradition since 2014. One of France’s leading horn players, having held principal positions with the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France and Orchestre National de France, Joulain said "Korea feels like home now."

Flutist Gauci-Ancelin joined the festival for the first time this year, stepping in as a last-minute substitution just two weeks ago. Over six days, he faces a demanding schedule, performing eight different pieces.

A professor at the University of Music and Performing Arts Graz in Austria and a member of the Karajan Academy of the Berlin Philharmonic, Gauci-Ancelin said, "Although it’s my first time here, I know many of the musicians," adding, "I really appreciate the familylike atmosphere."

France, one of the world's woodwind powerhouses, has a long tradition of nurturing wind musicians. In many parts of Europe, including northern France, coal miners once formed amateur brass and wind bands as a core part of their community life, Guyot explained, noting that these musical traditions helped embed a deep appreciation for wind instruments in the culture.

“So originally, wind instruments were popular instruments — they were played for dancing, for parties, for funerals and even for military ceremonies," he said, explaining that today, woodwind instruments remain a popular choice in France, compared to the stronger preference for piano and string instruments often seen in Korea.

Throughout the festival, the four musicians are performing in different ensembles alongside other instrumentalists, culminating in a joint appearance for the quintet of Bizet’s “Carmen” in the closing performance Sunday.

Launched in 2006 by violinist Kang Dong-suk with support from the Seoul Metropolitan Government, the SSF emerged in a musical landscape that lacked long-term, stable platforms for chamber music.