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Busan Concert Hall adds 'brio' to city culture
The pipe organ in the main auditorium is only one of four in Korea. Its 4,406 pipes and 62 stops were manufactured and installed by German company Freiburger Orgelbau.
Details on Busan Concert Hall, the city's first performance venue dedicated to classical music, were unveiled on Feb. 17 during a press conference at Busan Citizens Park.
During the press conference, city officials, Classic Busan Artistic Director Myung-whun Chung and CEO Min-jeong Park discussed the hall's opening and inaugural festival. The new performance space is expected to reshape the city's cultural landscape and draw world-class musicians.
The three-story venue is strategically located in Busan Citizens Park in Busanjin-gu District. This prime location offers exceptional accessibility to mass transit, connecting visitors seamlessly from Gimhae International Airport to Busan Station.
The venue boasts a vineyard-style main auditorium, an intimate chamber hall and a rehearsal space.
The Busan Concert Hall's main auditorium is the largest of its kind outside the capital region. Spanning three floors, the hall can seat over 2,011 people. Designed in the vineyard style, akin to the Berliner Philharmonie in Berlin and Suntory Hall in Tokyo, it ensures an optimal acoustic experience from every seat.
The venue's standout feature is its pipe organ. Manufactured and installed by the German company Freiburger Orgelbau, the eye-catching pipe organ has 4,406 pipes and 62 stops and can produce an extensive range of sounds.
The venue also includes a 400-seat chamber hall, a multipurpose rehearsal space that doubles as an event room, and a spacious lobby with a cafe and floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the park.
The inaugural music festival runs from June 20 to 28. The first two concerts will see Mr. Chung conducting the Asia Philharmonic Orchestra in a performance of Beethoven's "Triple Concerto" and "Choral" Symphony. Also performing will be Japanese violinist Sayaka Shoji and Chinese cellist Jian Wang.
Other festival highlights include recitals by pianist Seong-jin Cho, pianist Yekwon Sunwoo and organist Jae-hyuck Cho.
The festival concludes with the concert version of Beethoven's sole opera "Fidelio," with performances by the Busan Metropolitan Chorus, the National Chorus of Korea, tenor Eric Cutler and soprano Hrachuhi Bassenz.
Many world-renowned orchestras are coming to the Busan Concert Hall later this year, including the Sejong Soloists, the Italian orchestra Filarmonica della Scala, the London Philharmonic Orchestra and the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra.
Busan Concert Hall at Busan Citizens Park.