Sound of the East – Asia the future of classical music?

Han Xiaoming (left) a top French horn virtuoso is a member in the Asian Philharmonic Orchestra.

“In Seoul alone, there are 1 million families with pianos. That happened in only 40 years. It’s a great sign, because in many parts of Europe people are worried that classic music is stagnating,” he says.

After his musical studies at the Mannes School and at the Juilliard School in New York, he became Carlo Maria Giulini’s assistant in 1979 at the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra and two years later he was named Associate Conductor.

Having lived in Europe and America for roughly 20 years each, Chung is a global citizen who feels no cultural inhibitions in performing classical music.

From 1989 to 1994, Chung served as the music director of the Paris Opera. The Association of French Theaters and Music Critics named him Artist of the Year in 1991.

Chung has devoted an important part of his life to humanitarian and ecological problems. Looking to tie them to the creative energy that is driving classical music in Asia, he launched a series of musical and environmental projects in his home country in 1994.
 
For Chung, classical music is a world art with a rich heritage that has grown far beyond its European roots. “I’m always been asked why I want to do Western music. I told them its origins are in the West, but it long ago overcame any national boundaries,” he says.

Today he is looking to Asian musicians – especially composers – to breathe new life into classical music.

“Asia could play a leading role in classical music judging purely on the amount of interest and talent I see here,” he says. “Classical music is looking for a new direction, and it has to come from the composers. And so I hope that we will see leadership from the composers from Asia.”

Myung-Whun Chung and Asia Philharmonic Orchestra Concert
Where: Concert Hall of the National Center for the Performing Arts, 2 Xi Chang’an Jie, Xicheng District
When: August 6, 7:30 pm
Admission: 180-880 yuan
Tel: 6655 0000