Leading summer festival BBC Proms to arrive in Korea this winter

The Korean edition of BBC Proms, a leading summer festival that takes place in London, is set to launch in Korea this winter.

From Dec. 2 to 8, BBC Proms Korea, organized by Lotte Foundation for Arts, will offer a total of eight programs, featuring top domestic and overseas artists.

The festival will kick off with a concert by BBC Scotland Symphony Orchestra (BBC SSO) under the baton of conductor Ryan Wigglesworth, a British composer, conductor and pianist, and a collaboration with cellist Han Jae-min. A new cello concerto by composer Shin Dong-hoon will have its world premiere, performed by Han.

On the festival's sixth day, Dec. 7, Han, the 2024 Lotte Concert Hall artist in residence, will come back onto the stage along with Wigglesworth, this time as a pianist, and other soloists of the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra.

For the last night of BBC Proms Korea, Wigglesworth and BBC SSO will take the stage with violinist Hilary Hahn and baritone Kim Tae-han, the winner of the Queen Elisabeth Competition for voice in 2023.

Contemporary artist Choi Jae-hyuck and his Ensemble Blank will collaborate with clarinetist Jerome Comte on the second day of the festival, Dec. 3.

Sophie Dervaux, who is expanding her career as a conductor while serving as the principal bassoonist of the Vienna Philharmonic, will lead the KBS Symphony Orchestra in a performance of Brahms' Double Concerto for Violin and Cello in A Minor, Op. 102, featuring violinist Lee Ji-yoon and cellist Choi Ha-young.

Other highlights include a performance by the Little Singers of Paris on Dec. 7 and the West End Musical Gala Concert on Dec. 6, as well as Jarasum Jazz Night by The Jazz Ambassadors Orchestra and singer Lizz Wright.

BBC Proms has been held overseas since 2002, starting in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Subsequent overseas events include BBC Proms Australia in Melbourne in 2016, BBC Proms Dubai in Dubai in 2017 and BBC Proms Japan in Tokyo in 2019 and 2022.

Ticket prices range from 30,000 won ($23) to 250,000 won.

All performances will take place at Lotte Concert Hall in Jamsil, eastern Seoul.