Collaboration with pianist Park Jong-hwa; three events planned this year

Series aims to bridge disabled and non-disabled communities through music

Pianist Mo Jae-min and Seoul National University professor Park Jong-hwa perform at "Traveling Melodies: Chorok Travel x Run Piano" at Boramae Park in Dongjak-gu, Seoul, on Wednesday. [Kia]
Pianist Mo Jae-min and Seoul National University professor Park Jong-hwa perform at "Traveling Melodies: Chorok Travel x Run Piano" at Boramae Park in Dongjak-gu, Seoul, on Wednesday. [Kia]

Kia has partnered with Run Piano, the touring music project led by world-renowned pianist and Seoul National University professor Park Jong-hwa, to stage an outdoor concert aimed at expanding cultural access for people with disabilities.

The automaker held "Traveling Melodies: Chorok Travel x Run Piano" at Boramae Park in Dongjak-gu, Seoul, on Wednesday. The event brought together Kia's disability mobility support project Chorok Travel and the mobile classical performance initiative Run Piano to improve cultural and arts access for people with disabilities and foster communication between disabled and non-disabled audiences through music.

Chorok Travel, launched in 2012, is a corporate social responsibility project that provides safe and convenient transportation for people with disabilities. It currently operates 30 vehicles — including the Carnival, PV5 Passenger and PV5 WAV — across eight regions nationwide. More than 110,000 people have used the service to date.

The performance, themed "A Piano Concert in Boramae Forest," combined classical recitals with a conversation program. Professor Park and Mo Jae-min, a visually impaired pianist, shared the stage in a joint performance.

The program featured works carrying messages of hope, healing and solidarity — among them Chopin's Scherzo No. 2 in B-flat minor, Op. 31, Scherzo No. 3 in C-sharp minor, Op. 39, and Schubert's Military March. After the concert, Park and Mo sat down with the audience to discuss the power of music to connect people.

The Boramae Park concert is the first of three events planned under the Chorok Travel x Run Piano series, with additional performances scheduled at various venues later this year.

"We organized this event to extend the value of mobility beyond travel support for people with disabilities into the realms of culture and leisure," said Lee Deok-hyeon, Kia's head of sustainability management and senior managing director. "We will continue to expand opportunities so that people with disabilities can enjoy an even wider range of cultural experiences."


eyre@heraldcorp.com