London royal orchestra to tour with local artists

Features

Published: 18 May. 2006, 20:57

London royal orchestra to tour with local artists

The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra is coming to Seoul for the first time in 11 years. This time, the orchestra conducted by Paul Bateman will perform not only classical pieces but also join young Korean artists, including N.EX.T, Lee Soo-young, SG Wanna Be, Big Mama and Vibe.
The London-based, 60-year-old orchestra previously performed with such artists as Queen, Deep Purple, U2, Oasis and Yanni.
Lee performed with the orchestra in London earlier this month. “It was really fun because the essences of pop and classical music mixed very well,” said Lee at a press conference at the Imperial Palace Hotel on May 9.
“Most of my songs are already composed to play easily with an orchestra. The songs I will sing at the coming concert will be more classical and a bit slower than the original,” she added.
Chae Dong-ha of SG Wanna Be said, “We’ve performed with the Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra, and the result was very fresh and exotic. We’d like to show new musical colors that the audience hasn’t seen from us during previous concerts.”
The Korean rock band N.EX.T will play alongside the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, which requires a more complicated procedure of song arrangement than for the singers alone. N.EX.T is made up of a bass player, drummer, keyboardist, vocalist and two guitarists.
Vocalist Shin Hae-cheol said, “Although rock bands such as Queen, the Scorpions and Metallica have performed with an orchestra, there’s no formula that can be applied to every group.”

by Park Sung-ha

On May 24, the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra will perform Rossini’s Semiramide Overture, Saint Saens’ Cello Concerto No. 1 with Korean cellist Choi Young-chul, and Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 5 in E minor at the National Theater of Korea at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are from 70,000 won to 150,000 won.
On May 27, N.EX.T will join the orchestra at the Jamsil Gymnasium from 7:30 p.m. Tickets are from 22,000 won to 66,000 won.
On May 28, the orchestra will perform with Lee Soo-young, Big Mama, SG Wanna Be and Vibe at the Jamsil Gymnasium from 7:30 p.m. Tickets are from 22,000 won to 77,000 won.
The orchestra and Korean artists will also perform in Daegu on May 26. For more information, call 1588-7890 or 1544-1555.