Korean Cultural Center New York x SPO (5)

Online Orchestra Concert

#5: 360⁰ VR Orchestra
<Saint-Saëns, “Carnival of the Animals: Aquarium”>

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▲ Program: Camille Saint-Saëns, “Carnival of the Animals: Aquarium”

▲ Conductor: Wilson Ng

▲ Piano: Bo-yoon Park & Hyo-jeong Hur

▲ Performer: Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra

The KCCNYxSPO’s “Online Orchestra Concert” program presents a new VR Orchestra concert series with a goal to provide effective materials for music education. SPO and EBS have produced a high quality of VR Orchestra concert series for all to enjoy.   

The third piece we would like to introduce is “Carnival of the Animals: Aquarium” by French composer, Camille Saint-Saëns. “Aquarium” is the seventh movement among the musical suite of fourteen movements of “Carnival of the Animals.”

▲ Wilson Ng

In his recent performance at the Alte Oper Frankfurt New Year’s concert with Scriabin’s Poème de l'extase on the program, Wilson Ng received a standing ovation and received critical acclaim by the Frankfurter Rundschau which headlined the concert as “The Pinpoint Ecstasy”. Wilson Ng is a prize winner at the 4th Paris Svetlanov International Conducting Competition 2018, the 8th Frankfurt Sir Georg Solti International Conductors' Competition 2017, and the Aspen Music Festival James Conlon Conductor Prize 2016.

Since 2019, Wilson Ng has been the Associate Conductor of the Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra, with which he made his debut at the Seoul Arts Center Orchestra Festival 2019. He performed numerous outdoor concerts for audiences of more than 10,000, including the National Sports Festival 100 years Anniversary Celebration Concert and Riverside Concert. He also conducted the orchestra at the 1st of March National Memorial Concert in Sejong Center, Symphonic Concert Series around Seoul City and Music Story Concert series at Lotte Concert Hall. In 2020, he will conduct his first subscription concert, and will lead the orchestra once again at the Seoul Arts Center Orchestra Festival 2020.

Born in Hong Kong in 1989, Wilson Ng started his first flute lessons when he was 11. He studied flute in Paris and Lausanne and performed as a guest solo flutist with the Lyon National Opera Ballet before specialising in conducting. Later on, he advanced his conducting skills at the Universität der Künste Berlin and the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland and was chosen as Conducting Fellow at the Pacific Music Festival and the Aspen Music Festival. He was also selected to join the masterclasses with Bernard Haitink, David Zinman, Roger Norrington.

▲ SPO (Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra)

For the past 73 years, the Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra (SPO) has played a central role in enriching the cultural lives of Korea's citizens. 

In 2005, under the leadership of the former music director Maestro Myung-Whun Chung, the orchestra was reborn, setting a new standard for orchestral music in Korea. With distinguished guest conductors, soloists and the Grawemeyer award-winning Composer-in-Residence Unsuk Chin, the SPO continues to take the initiative in shaping the Korean classical music scene. 

The SPO has extended its scope to an international scale starting in 2007 with Thailand and the New York-based U.N. Headquarters for the 62nd United Nations Day Concert. In 2010, the orchestra embarked on its first overseas tour to nine cities in Italy, Germany, Czech Republic and Russia. This followed the orchestra's European festival tour in 2011 which included the world-famous Edinburgh International Festival. In 2012, the orchestra won standing ovations and wide acclaim for its North American tour, including their performance at the world renowned Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles. In 2013, SPO performed a meaningful concert at the National Center for the Performing Arts in Beijing to celebrate the 20th Anniversary of Seoul-Beijing sister cities relationship. In August 2014, the SPO toured to the Turku Music Festival, the Grafenegg Festival, the Merano Music Festival, and to the BBC Proms in Europe where the orchestra received rave reviews from critics and audiences alike. The influential UK newspaper, The Daily Telegraph, gave the orchestra’s performance at the BBC Proms its highest rating of fivestars, describing it as "beautifully paced and deeply moving." 

Meanwhile, apart from traditional concert hall venues, the SPO performs a wide range of public concerts and is deeply involved in the everyday lives of Seoul citizens. Large-scale outdoor concerts such as the Neighborhood Concerts in hospitals, prisons, local community centers and other diverse places, the Children’s Day Celebration Concert at the Seoul Children’s Grand Park, and the Riverside Concert at the side of the Hangang River, are all greatly loved by people from all walks of life in the bustling metropolis. 

Furthermore, SPO also provides customized education programs such as the Neighborhood Art School for children, Pre-concert Lecture for adult audiences, Conducting Masterclass for young conductors, Composition Masterclass for composition majors, and Baty Brass Academy for future brass players. They are all part of the orchestra's vision to expand its future audience base as well as to develop and nurture young artists on a long-term basis. 

SPO also became the first Asian orchestra to sign an exclusive worldwide contract with the Deutsche Grammophon label for two CD releases annually in a total span of five years. A total of eight albums have been released up to date including Unsuk Chin’s 3 Concertos and Mahler’s Symphony No. 9 which were released in 2014. The Unsuk Chin’s 3 Concertos album in particular was honored by two of the world’s most prestigious awards in classical music: International Classical Music Awards (ICMA) for best contemporary music recording and BBC Music Magazine Awards for winning the Premiere Category.


*This performance was filmed in January, 2020 at the Lotte Concert Hall, Seoul, South Korea

©SEOUL PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA