| Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra's (SPO) newly-appointed Music Director Osmo Vanska, right, poses for a photo with SPO's CEO Kang Eun-kyung at the Sejong Center for the Performing Arts in Seoul, Monday. Courtesy of SPO |
By Anna J. Park
Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra's (SPO) newly-appointed Music Director Osmo Vanska, who will lead the orchestra from January next year for three years, has unveiled a three-point vision and strategy for the orchestra. Vanska said he would strive for the construction of a dedicated concert hall for the orchestra, release quality recordings, and earn good feedback while working hard to build a strong internal and external reputation for the SPO.
He unveiled his vision, along with other specific goals during a news conference in Seoul, Monday, after he was tapped to lead the orchestra.
Vanska took the helm amid a leadership vacuum that continued for three years since December 2015 when his predecessor maestro Chung Myung-whun left after a clash with then CEO Park Hyun-jeong
The Finnish conductor is renowned for his stable and harmonious leadership, as demonstrated in his long-term and positive relationships with Finland's Lahti Symphony Orchestra and the Minnesota Orchestra as their chief conductor for a couple of decades, which earned him his nickname of "Orchestra Builder."
His first goal of striving for the construction of the SPO's own concert hall is something that the orchestra has been pursuing for a long time.
Without its own hall, the SPO has been leasing rehearsing halls and other necessary offices from the Sejoing Center for the Performing Arts. Their concerts are also held in various locations, such as the Seoul Arts Center and the Lotte Concert Hall, to name a few.
Vanska stressed that having its own concert hall will help the orchestra's musical growth, as rehearsing at the same place where concerts are to be held is paramount to keep performances at the highest level.
"For most American and European orchestras, almost every rehearsal is held in the same hall where concerts are to be held; that is a huge benefit for the quality of the orchestra," Vanska explained during the press conference.
The maestro vowed to make strenuous effort to produce quality recordings with the orchestra. The Finnish conductor has earned international acclaim for previous albums; he won a Grammy Award for his Sibelius work in 2013, and other albums of Mahler, Beethoven and Bruckner were also Grammy-nominated in 2001, 2007, 2012 and 2017.
"I'd like to continue my 30-year collaboration with the BIS label; for me they have the best available producers and artistic directors at BIS. And those recordings should be good that they are earning good feedbacks and good reviews from both national and international music magazines and music journalists," Vanska said.
The maestro explained that such quality recordings would help the orchestra to advance into prestigious music festivals and garner international acclaim, strengthening the SPO's standing. He also stressed that reaching out further to local audiences was as important as performing in other major cities around the world.
"It is important to go to some small places in Korea, where people do not hear symphony orchestras every season. The important idea is that we'd like to find out people who don't maybe have an idea about symphony orchestra music. We need to go there; we cannot wait for them to come to us," he said.
| Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra's (SPO) Music Director Osmo Vanska speaks during a press conference at the Sejong Center for the Performing Arts in Seoul, Monday. Courtesy of SPO |
As for more specific goals, the maestro said the orchestra sounds like one chamber music ensemble, as all members of the orchestra "open their ears" to each other to create more organic and harmonious music.
"The orchestra and the players, they should sound like one chamber music ensemble, which is played together with their ears, not only those of the conductor's. … I will be super happy, if the orchestra is working more and more as a chamber music ensemble. As more and more of that happens, the orchestra responds well to different groups of players, that makes the music's quality higher," the maestro said.
"It is important that everybody is working together as one team; my experience from the Minnesota Orchestra and Finland's Lahti Symphony Orchestra is also that we need to come together. We don't need to start to argue about who knows better than others; we need to use our talent and our skill and collaborate with others and that's the way the whole organization gets better, and keeps a creative spirit," he added.
Regarding the repertoire and programs, he said he'd like to introduce the audience to new, unknown yet great works by composers of the contemporary generation.
"We need to know how to play better Bach, Beethoven and Brahms, but we need also to know how to play the composers no one knows. We must be connected to the big names, but we must be connected to the young names who might be the big names in the future. … We'd like to introduce the audience to something great that they had no idea about the music, but it sounds so interesting that they'd like to hear more of that," he said.
In an official ceremony, Vanska received an appointment certificate as the SPO's Music Director earlier Monday, from Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon. His three-year term will start next January, and his first inauguration concert will be held in February. The Finnish conductor did not reveal the repertoire for the concert.
| Music director Osmo Vanska's three-year term at the Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra starts in January, 2020. Courtesy of Greg Helgeson |