Gyechon Festival ends with four-hand performance by Kim Sun-wook, Cho Seong-jin

The 10th Gyechon Classic Festival concluded Sunday with the final concert featuring the Gyeonggi Philharmonic led by pianist-turned-conductor Kim Sun-wook and pianist Cho Seong-jin.

The last performance of the three-day festival began right after a half-hour rain delay.

The orchestra and star pianist Cho performed Shostakovich's Piano Concerto No. 1 in C Minor, Op. 35 in front of 7,000 spectators.

For the encore, Kim and Cho joined forces to perform Brahms' Hungarian Dance No. 5, which was the first time the top pianists performed together.

During the festival, which ran from Friday to Sunday, about 14,000 people gathered in the Gangwon Province village with a population of 1,700 to watch performances by renowned musicians including pianists Paik Kun-woo and Lee Jin-sang.

The festival began 10 years ago as the community's effort to prevent the closure of Gyechon Elementary School in 2009 due to rural population decline. The school formed the Gyechon Starlight Orchestra, involving all students. The annual event is backed by the Chung Mong-koo Foundation together with the Korea National University of Arts, also known as K-Arts.

Concertgoers watch the performance of the Gyeonggi Philharmonic Orchestra on Sunday at the Gyechon Classic Festival. (Chung Mong-koo Foundation)