The Korean Cultural Center of the European Union in Belgium (director Kim Dongeun) supported the opening performance of baritone KIM Taehan of the local representative classical music festival “Musiq3” on Friday 29, 2023.
Musiq3 is a music festival organized every year since 2011 by Musiq3, a radio channel of the same name on the Belgian public channel RTBF, and is held respectively in Brussels and Walloon Brabant in June and September each year. This year’s fall festival features eight performances showcasing the imagination and beauty of music under the theme “Utopia.”
Baritone KIM Taehan, who won first place in the vocal section of this year's Queen Elizabeth Competition, was invited to today's performance held at the La Sucrerie Arts Center located in the Wavre region in Belgium.
Julie Calbète, artistic director of the festival, said: "We are delighted to invite KIM Taehan, an artist appreciated around the world. During our festival, many audiences discover new Korean musicians."
KIM Taehan, who became the first Asian man to win the vocal category at the Queen Competition, presented songs that made the audience dream on an autumn night with the accompaniment of pianist Philippe Riga in this performance.
KIM Taehan, who took the stage for the first part of the opening ceremony, began the concert with <Don Quixote à Dulcine> by Ravel. Then, famous pieces by Strauss, Schubert and Schumann were performed. In particular, at the end, we played the Korean songs “Reverberation(잔향)” by YOON Hakjun and “Oh! Mountain(산아)” by SHIN Dongsu, receiving loud applause from the audience.
A trio of former Queen Competition winners were invited to the second part of the show. Lorenzo Gatto, Belgium's most beloved violinist, took the stage with pianist Jonathan Fournel (France) and cellist Rinana Anthony (USA) to perform Brahms' Piano Trio No. 1.
Ambassador RYU Jeonghyeon of the Republic of Korea to the European Union and Belgium attended the performance and encouraged artist KIM Taehan. The Korean Cultural Center in Belgium has supported the performance activities of Korean musicians through a friendly cooperation pact with the Music3 Festival since 2015. On July 2, pianist KIM Sooyeon was invited to the closing performance of the Musiq3 Summer Festival for perform in collaboration with the Brussel Philharmonie Orchestra.
Classical musicians featured at the festival so far include soprano HWANG Sumi (2015), pianist CHO Seongjin (2017) and Esme Quartet (2018, 2019), as well as jazz artists such as Heo Dae-wook Trio ( 2018) and traditional music Yeonhee Company. Yuhee (2016), etc.
The main performances of this festival, organized in six towns in Walloon Brabant, will be broadcast live by Musiq3 Radio and will continue until October 8.
