The Tongyeong International Music Festival (TIMF), an annual classical music gala, kicked off on Friday, a year after the annual event was canceled due to the novel coronavirus pandemic.

The 2021 festival will run through April 4 in Tongyeong, on the southern coast, presenting 23 classical concerts and performances under the theme "Changing Reality."

Organizers canceled last year's event due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Although there has been no let-up in new virus cases, they decided to hold this year's edition as planned with strict antivirus and distancing measures in place.

Two performances will open the festival.

At TIMF Concert Hall, the Tongyeong Festival Orchestra will play "Fanfare and Memorial" composed by South Korea-born Yun I-sang and "Symphony No. 5" by Dmitri Shostakovich, led by Venezuelan conductor Christian Vasquez. South Korean violinist Kim Bomsori will collaborate with the orchestra to perform Tchaikovsky's "Violin Concerto."

"Dear LUNA," a Korean original stage dance musical, will be staged at TIMF Black Box at night, with ballerina-turned-artist Kim Joo-won and "Minari" star Han Yeri participating in the show. The musical will continue till Sunday.

Alternative pop band Leenalchi will also give a concert during the 10-day festival.

TIMF will close with a concert by the Tongyeong Festival Orchestra conducted by Sascha Goetzel from Austria in collaboration with Korean soprano Im Sun-hae and Russian tenor Pavel Kolgatin.

Meanwhile, renowned South Korean violinist Chung Kyung-wha's performance was canceled due to a finger injury.

TIMF was founded in 2002 to commemorate the famous South Korean composer Yun I-sang, who was born in Sancheong, near Tongyeong, in 1917. (Yonhap)