Following the sudden departure of maestro Chung Myung-whun after his 10-year tenure as Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra music director last December amid a police investigation into a defamation suit brought on by the SPO’s former CEO against Chung’s wife and allegations of embezzlement, finding Chung‘s replacement is the orchestra’s top priority, said SPO CEO Choe Heung-sik.
Choe first took rein of the city’s controversy-riddled orchestra on July 1 last year, and after nearly a year at the beleaguered organization he unveiled initiatives for getting the orchestra back on track at a press conference at the Sejong Center in Seoul on Wednesday.
“With our longtime conductor Chung Myung-whun choosing to leave the orchestra, the police investigation into our organization and with a number of our employees being indicted for their roles in the past issues, it has been a very difficult year,” said Choe.
“Along with my continued efforts to make the SPO a more global and vibrant orchestra that our citizens can interact with more closely, ... still one of our biggest priorities is to recruit a top-class conductor to replace conductor Chung Myung-whun,” he added.
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Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra CEO Choe Heung-sik speaks at a press conference held at the Sejong Center in Seoul on Wednesday. (Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra) |
It will take a minimum of a year to a year and a half to look at all of the potential candidates, and about two to three years of leading the orchestra in various concert events before the advisory council will be able to make its final decision, according to Choe.
As of last month, 10 foreign conductors were vying to fill Chung’s shoes, whittled down from about 40 in March.
The SPO is expected to invite each prospective conductor to direct the orchestra during a concert event starting in the latter half of the year before determining the finalists. The selection process will be based not only on the conductor’s qualifications, but also on the candidate’s ability to communicate with the orchestra members as well as win the hearts of the Korean audience.
“I know many people are anxious to know when we will be able to announce who this person will be, but understand that this whole process will take time,” said Choe. “Why is it going to take two to three years (to appoint a new head conductor) you may ask? It is because we are looking for someone with a lot of experience, and someone with that much experience means having to take time to work around everyone’s schedule. Filling this position is going to be a long process.”
“But keep in mind what we have overcome this year,” he continued, “When Maestro Chung Myung-whun left, we were without a conductor for nine performances. Other orchestras may have canceled many of these concerts, but we worked hard and managed to secure temporary conductors to keep the concerts alive. I know people are very anxious about when we will be able to announce the new head conductor, but these things take time and I assure you that we are doing everything in our power to find the best person for the job.”
By Julie Jackson (
juliejackson@heraldcorp.com)
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