Venezuelan conductor Christian Vasquez (left) will open the 2021 Tongyeong International Music Festival by leading the Tongyeong Festival Orchestra in the opening performance. 

By Jung Joo-ri and Yoon Hee Young

Photos = Tongyeong International Music Foundation

This year's Tongyeong International Music Festival, one of Asia's most prestigious events for classical music, will be held from March 26 to April 4 under the theme "Changing Reality" at Tongyeong Concert Hall in Tongyeong, Gyeongsangnam-do Province.

The coronavirus caused the cancellation of last year's event, but this year's will showcase 22 performances while strictly observing quarantine measures. Each of the performances will also be livestreamed. 

To open the festival, the Tongyeong Festival Orchestra will perform "Fanfare & Memorial" written in 1979 by Tongyeong-born composer Yun I-sang, Tchaikovsky's Violin Concerto and Shostakovich's Symphony No. 5. Venezuelan conductor Christian Vasquez will lead the orchestra with accompaniment from violinist Bomsori Kim.

The closing performance will see the orchestra perform Beethoven's Symphony No. 8 and Mozart's Requiem under the guidance of Austrian conductor Sascha Goetzel.

Composer Texu Kim's musical play "Dear Luna" on March 26 will make its premiere featuring ballerina Kim Joo-won, pianist William Youn and actor Han Ye-ri. The Camille Thomas Cello Recital is scheduled for March 27, "Kyung Wha Chung Plays Bach" by the renowned violinist on March 28 and 30, and a reinterpretation of pansori (solo lyrical opera) by the alternative pop band Leenalchi on April 2.

Because of the pandemic, the festival venues are limited to 50% of seating capacity, with each audience member to sit in every other seat. More information is available on the event's official website here.

The promotional poster for this year's Tongyeong International Music Festival.