Following the annual Tongyeong International Music Festival’s homage to the “Sounds of Tomorrow” in March, the city of Tongyeong is gearing up for the autumn concert series starting in September.

From Sept. 4, the Tongyeong Concert Hall will play host to nine concerts by both local and international musicians until October.

Opening the curtain for this year’s autumn musical festivities is the local Novous Quartet, featuring Son Yeol-eum on the piano. The acclaimed ensemble is slated to perform Shostakovitch‘s String Quartet No. 6 and No. 8, as well as the Piano Quintet in G Minor.

The opening concert will then be followed by world-renowned Greek violinist Leonidas Kavakos on Sept. 9. As a violinist, Kavakos has won top prizes at some of the classical music world’s most prestigious competitions, including won the International Sibelius Competition in Helsinki, the Indianapolis International Violin Competition, Naumburg Competition in New York and the Paganini Violin Competition. 

As a maestro, Kavakos has conducted both the London and Boston Symphony Orchestras. For his upcoming Tongyeong performance, the violinist will team up with the TIMF Ensemble in performing Mozart, Haydn and Beethoven pieces.


The remainder of the autumn series will include performances by Deutsche Radio Philharmonie, cellist Leonard Elschenbroch, the Zurich Chamber Orchestra, Helsinki Baroque Orchestra and the Hannover NDR Philharmonic Orchestra with guest violinist Choi Ye-eun.

The festivities will then come to a close with a special performance by the renowned Paris-based Ensemble InterContemporain on Oct. 28, performing works of Gyorgy Ligeti, Matthias Pintscher, Yun I-sang, and Chin Un-suk.

Famous for the Tongyeong International Music Festival, the city of Tongyeong is regarded as one of the country’s leading music cities as it was the birthplace of the internationally renowned composer Yun. The city was also designated as UNESCO Creative City of Music last year.

TIMF officials announced earlier this month that the city is planning to hold a grand-scale music festival in celebration of the centennial of Yun‘s birth next year.

A 30 percent discount is being offered to those who purchase tickets in July, according to the organizer.

For more information on concert ticket prices and scheduling, visit www.timf.org or call (055) 650-0400.

By Julie Jackson (juliejackson@heraldcorp.com)