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SIMF Orchestra's finale marks Korea-Japan cooperation both on and off the stage

Published: 07 Nov. 2025, 13:41 Updated: 09 Nov. 2025, 12:56

SEO JI-EUN
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Violist Park Ha-yang performs Toru Takemitsu’s “A String Around Autumn” during the closing concert of the Seoul International Music Festival at the Seoul Arts Center on Nov. 6. [EMBASSY OF JAPAN TO KOREA]

The Seoul International Music Festival (SIMF) Orchestra, led by Ukrainian-born conductor Kirill Karabits, presented the finale conert of its weeklong festival in collaboration with Japan to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the normalization of bilateral diplomatic relations on Thursday evening at the Seoul Arts Center in southern Seoul.

Now in its 17th edition, the SIMF has partnered each year with a different country to highlight cross-cultural musical exchange. This year’s festival adopted the theme “Dance with Me,” celebrating the joy and vitality that classical music brings to life.

At Thursday’s closing concert, the orchestra performed Toru Takemitsu’s “A String Around Autumn,” the late Japanese composer’s renowned viola concerto, marking its Korean premiere. The piece was performed by Park Ha-yang, a Korean violist and protégé of Nobuko Imai, one of Japan's leading viola players.

Japanese musicians joining the stage included Chihiro Kitada on violin, Akina Yoshino on clarinet, Kaname Hamaji on horn and Mayumi Shimizu on trombone.

“I think music is one of the most appropriate tools for connecting people and promoting friendship together,” Japanese Ambassador to Korea Koichi Mizushima said at a reception held following the concert. “We are very committed to further developing the bilateral relationship.”

BY SEO JI-EUN [[email protected]]