Chung Myung-whun announced as KBS Symphony's music director

Maestro Chung Myung-whun will begin his new role as the music director of the KBS Symphony Orchestra from January, the orchestra announced Tuesday.

For the next three years, Chung will lead the orchestra, which will celebrate its 70th anniversary next year.

The news came 18 months after the orchestra said it was in the final stages of discussion with Chung. In the meantime, Chung has worked as the music director of Classic Busan. A new municipal office of Busan Metropolitan City, Classic Busan is responsible for operating the Busan Concert Hall, which opened in June, and the Busan Opera House, set to open in 2027.

In May, Teatro alla Scala in Milan announced that the 72-year-old conductor will become the next artistic director from 2027, making him the first Asian and only the second non-Italian in the prestigious organization with a 247-year history.

The appointment would also mark his return to the KBS Symphony Orchestra after he left his post as the principal conductor in 1998, only four months into his three-year tenure — a departure prompted by internal discord. In 2022, the orchestra appointed Chung as its first "honorary laureate" conductor, and he has since been collaborating with the orchestra on regular concerts such as the "Masters Series."

The first KBS Symphony Orchestra concert with Chung as the music director will be the inaugural performance of the Hwaseong Arts Center in Gyeonggi-do on Jan. 15. He will present Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto with violinist Leonidas Kavakos and Beethoven’s Symphony No. 3 “Eroica.” Chung and the orchestra will bring the same program to Seoul on Jan. 16 at Lotte Concert Hall.