Seokwon Hong was the first Korean to be appointed as the principal conductor (Erster Kapellmeister) of an Opera Theater in Austria. Hong actively conducts operas, ballets, symphonies, and modern classical music throughout Europe and Asia.

Seokwon Hong earned his bachelor’s degree in Conducting from Seoul University and his Diplom and Konzertexamen at the Hanns Eisler School of Music Berlin. Hong was selected as the “Future Maestro” by the German Music Association and won the third prize at the 100th anniversary Karajan conducting competition. He has successfully conducted world-renowned orchestras, such as Berlin Deutsch Symphony Orchestra, Konzerthausorchester Berlin, Stuttgart Radio Symphony Orchestra, and Beethoven Orchestra Bonn. Hong has also demonstrated his versatility in operas. He received the audience prize from the Leipzig Operetta Competition and high praises for his debut performance at the Swiss Bern Opera Theatre and Staatstheater Mainz. He was also appointed as the Innsbruck Tyrolean State Theatre’s principal conductor in Austria. There, he successfully conducted Austria’s most beloved work, The Bat (Die Fledermaus), by Strauss, selling out all 20 performances. Hong received the highest praise from the provincial daily newspaper, Tiroler Tageszeitung, which wrote, “Fantastic Music! Conductor Hong made the entire audience dance.” Similarly, the European Opera magazine Merker said, “Conductor Hong Seokwon led the orchestra in making the most ideal sound of Strauss.”

Hong is also active in Korea’s opera scene. He has recently conducted extensive opera productions, including the Pyeongchang Olympic Commemoration Opera La Traviata and Massenet’s Manon, and received favorable comments. In 2020, Hong was appointed as the musical director of Opera’s Garden, produced by the Seongnam Cultural Foundation. Hong has conducted many of Korea’s best orchestras, such as the Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra, Korean Symphony Orchestra, Bucheon Philharmonic Orchestra, Gyeonggi Philharmonic Orchestra, KBS Symphony Orchestra, Busan Philharmonic Orchestra, Incheon Philharmonic Orchestra, Suwon Philharmonic Orchestra, Seongnam Philharmonic Orchestra, Gangnam Symphony Orchestra, Gunpo Prime Philharmonic Orchestra, Wonju Philharmonic Orchestra, Jeju Philharmonic Orchestra, and many more. He was particularly praised as the Hankyung Philharmonic Orchestra’s second musical director, bringing the private orchestra more attention. Since April 2021, Hong has served as the Gwangju Symphony Orchestra’s 13th artistic director.

ⓒTaeuk Kang

Born in 2004, Yunchan Lim made waves after winning the second and Chopin prizes in the 2018 Cleveland International Piano Competition, a world-renowned competition for young pianists. He was also the youngest participant in the Thomas & Evon Cooper International Competition, winning the third prize and Audience Award. Afterward, Lim performed with the Cleveland Orchestra in Severance Hall.
In 2019, 15-year-old Lim surprised the musical world again by becoming the youngest participant to win the first prize at the 2019 ISANGYUN Competition, along with the UNESCO Creative City of Music Audience Prize and Seong-Yawng Park Special Prize.

Since his debut as an 11-year-old pianist on the stage of Kumho Asiana Cultural Foundation’s Kumho Prodigy Opening Concert in 2015, Lim completed his international solo performance in the San Fernando Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Madrid, Spain, at the Korean Cultural Centre of Madrid’s invitation. Lim has since participated in the 2021 Hanwha Symphony Festival; a duo performance with Yeol Eum Son in the 17th Music in PyeongChang festival; performances with the Korean Symphony Orchestra, Busan Philharmonic Orchestra, and the Suwon Philharmonic Orchestra; Kumho’s Beautiful Thursday Special Concert; the Korean Young Pianist Series hosted by Myeongdong Cathedral; the EBS Space Gonggam; and The House Concert’s New Year’s Concert.
Lim participated in the Young Musicians of Korea album, produced by KBS, in November 2020. In 2021, he completed his first recital tour with Franz Liszt’s Études d’exécution transcendante in Tongyeong, Gwangju, Daegu, Seongnam, and Seoul.

Lim graduated from Yewon School at the top of his class in February 2020 and entered the Korea National University of Arts in 2021. Since 2017, he has been studying under the tutelage of pianist Minsoo Sohn in the Korea National Institute for the Gifted in Arts.