The Music Festival Pohang is celebrating its fifth anniversary this year with an ambitious program that sold out completely within eight minutes of tickets becoming available. The festival, which runs from Friday through November 13, represents the coastal steel city's ongoing effort to establish itself as a cultural destination beyond its industrial reputation.
Park Yu-shin, the festival's cellist and music director, emphasized the significance of this milestone during a press conference held Monday in Seoul. "Five years may sound like a short time for a festival, but this fifth anniversary means a great deal to us. So this year, we've put together an especially varied and generous program to celebrate it," Park said alongside bass-baritone Samuel Youn.
The festival opens on November 7 with a concert led by conductor and composer Yoon Han-kyeol, who won the prestigious 2023 Herbert von Karajan Young Conductors Award in Salzburg, Austria. Returning for his second appearance after a captivating debut last year, Yoon will premiere his new composition titled "Byeolsingut," specially commissioned by the Music Festival Pohang.
Yoon's "Byeolsingut" draws inspiration from traditional Korean shamanistic rituals called "gut," which are performed to pray for a village's peace, health, good harvest, and prosperity. However, the composer has crafted a contemporary reinterpretation rather than attempting a folkloric reconstruction. "Byeolsingut for orchestra does not seek to vividly re-create the sensual or folkloric elements of Korea's shamanic ritual music. Instead, it approaches the essence of Byeolsingut through the lens of the Western classical tradition, translating its musical characteristics into a contemporary Western compositional language," Yoon explained about his work.
Park expressed her commitment to incorporating Korea's traditional and unique cultural identity into future programming, viewing this as a core mission of the festival. This approach aligns with the festival's 2024 theme of "Affinity," which reflects the organizers' goal of cultivating artistic bonds and deepening musical connections between performers and audiences.
Bass-baritone Samuel Youn, who will perform in a duo concert with soprano Hwang Su-mi, stressed the importance of distinctiveness for regional music festivals. He noted that uniqueness becomes essential when festivals face the challenge of building audiences for classical music genres in smaller markets. Their performance, titled "Vom Lachen Zum Wahnsinn" (German for "From Laughter to Madness"), promises to break traditional recital boundaries. "We will combine storytelling, props and theatrical elements to express a wide range of human emotions with the hope of offering something more than a traditional recital," Youn explained.
Another major highlight of this year's festival is the appearance of the Hagen Quartet, which has been active since 1981 and has served as an inspiration to generations of Korean musicians. Their participation reinforces the festival's long-standing commitment to chamber music programming. Park expressed her vision for the festival's future, saying, "When we reach the festival's 10th anniversary and look back, I hope that the fact that so many remarkable quartets have come to this festival will be remembered as something truly extraordinary and a source of pride."
This year's festival faces unique logistical challenges as events will be held at various venues across the city, including the Gyeongsangbuk-do Office of Education Cultural Center and Hyoja Art Hall. The change became necessary because the festival's main venue, the Pohang Culture and Art Hall, is currently undergoing renovation. Due to regulations at these alternative venues that prohibit paid performances, organizers made the unprecedented decision to offer all tickets free of charge.
The decision to offer free admission has created both opportunities and uncertainties for the festival organizers. While the immediate sellout within eight minutes demonstrates significant public interest, Park acknowledges that this represents an experiment for the festival. "I'm not sure if it was driven purely by enthusiasm for the festival or for classical music. But I do feel that people will leave with a different mindset," she reflected. "Many arrive not knowing what a serenade or duo recital is, yet walk out realizing that music is genuinely enjoyable." This approach may serve as a model for how regional festivals can expand their audiences and introduce classical music to new listeners.
