Jaap van Zweden, music director of the Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra (SPO), speaks about the "Conducting Fellowship" program during a press conference at SPO's headquarters in downtown Seoul, Wednesday. Yonhap

In celebration of its 80th anniversary, the Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra (SPO) organized the "Conducting Fellowship," a special program to train the next generation of conductors. A total of 59 people applied for this program, from which eight finalists were selected.

Those selected have the opportunity to receive direct instruction in conducting from the SPO's music director Jaap van Zweden. After three-day open rehearsals, running until Thursday, the one who gains the most votes among orchestra members will have a chance to conduct during the “Conducting Fellowship Concert” to be held at Lotte Concert Hall on Friday.

The music director stressed that conductors can learn much by experience, especially being in front of and working with an orchestra.

“One of my biggest goals is that these young conductors can taste and have the experience of being with an orchestra. Because, being with the orchestra and working with them is a completely different experience than preparing it in a room when you are alone or just with a pianist who can play the orchestra part,” he said during a press conference at SPO headquarters in central Seoul, Wednesday.

He stressed that his legacy will be defined not only by his past concerts, but also by the future of the diverse young conductors he's helped to cultivate.

“We (senior conductors) need to give back to the new generation and tell them everything what we know. We are just ambassadors for the composers who are here already for ages and it makes me proud to see that young conductors are growing very fast in a few days," he said.

Poster for Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra's "Conducting Fellowship Concert" / Courtesy of SPO

As for this open competition format, instead of usual closed-door master classes, van Zweden noted that conductors should learn in a public environment.

"Conductors will never be behind closed doors. They will always be in the open around the public and the public will judge them. That's how it is in normal life. The press and the orchestra members will judge them. Therefore, I think it is better to run a public program like this than more closed master classes," he said.

"I try to teach them a few things but they learn the most from each other, because when somebody is doing not really great that is what you write down. So, this combination of being together with the press, with an audience later on and with the orchestra members can be a very hard and tough lesson but it is the best lesson."

The finalists include Choi Jae-hyuck, former fellow conductor at Switzerland's Verbier Festival Orchestra; Song Min-gyu, winner of Italy's Guido Cantelli International Conducting Award; Park Keun-tae, principal conductor of the Berlin Neue Philharmonic Orchestra; Harris Han, assistant conductor of Pierre Monteux Festival; and Kim Ri-ra, former assistant conductor of the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra.

Participating conductor Park, who is active in Berlin, said, "The maestro gave us time to rehearse, and the orchestra continued to work with us until the sound I wanted, the music I wanted, came out 100 percent without giving up. In fact, this is something that is difficult to do in such a highly professional orchestra, but the music director gave us the opportunity to delve into it until the end, which was really impressive. Through this, he showed us a lot about how to approach the meaning that the composer intended for the orchestra."

Han, from the U.S., said it has been a tremendous opportunity to work with van Zweden.

"He is a very detailed conductor and he makes us all demand more from ourselves that we can give," he said.

Choi gave high marks to this rare conducting fellowship program, saying, "'There are not many programs like this in the whole world. It's such a great opportunity to learn from a top-notch orchestra without an attendance fee."

The final winner will also be appointed as the assistant conductor of the SPO.