“Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra’s newly-appointed Music Director Osmo Vänskä, who will lead the orchestra from January next year for three years, has unveiled a three-point vision and strategy for the orchestra,” writes Anna J. Park in Tuesday’s (6/25) Korea Times. Vänskä replaces Myung-Whung Chung, who stepped down as the Seoul Philharmonic’s music director in December 2015; Vänskä will hold his new position concurrently with the Minnesota Orchestra, where he remains music director until 2022. “Vänskä said he would strive for the construction of a dedicated concert hall for the orchestra, release quality recordings, and earn good feedback while working hard to build a strong internal and external reputation for the SPO. He unveiled his vision, along with other specific goals during a news conference in Seoul, Monday…. Vänskä stressed that having its own concert hall will help the orchestra’s musical growth…. The maestro vowed to make strenuous effort to produce quality recordings with the orchestra [and] stressed that reaching out further to local audiences was as important as performing in other major cities around the world…. ‘We need to go there; we cannot wait for them to come to us,’ he said…. His first inauguration concert will be held in February.”
Posted July 1, 2019
