[Provided by the Prague Spring Music Festival Organizing Committee]
[Provided by the Prague Spring Music Festival Organizing Committee]

Pianist Cho Seong-jin is coming home this summer. Over the course of July, Korean audiences will have the rare chance to hear him not only in solo recital but also in chamber music — a format he has seldom presented in Korea. One of the most celebrated figures on the international classical stage, Cho will move between Seoul, Bucheon and Pyeongtaek in a dense domestic tour. The series promises to reveal new dimensions of his artistry.

A Brahms evening with principal players of the Berlin Philharmonic

The tour opens with a chamber music program that showcases the musical network Cho has built on the world stage. He will give "Pianist Cho Seong-jin Chamber Concert" performances on three consecutive days — at Lotte Concert Hall in Seoul on July 14, at Hwaseong Arts Center on July 15 and at Bucheon Arts Center Concert Hall on July 16.

The roster of collaborators reflects Cho's deep ties to the Berlin Philharmonic. Leading the ensemble is concertmaster Daishin Kashimoto, who has anchored the orchestra for more than 15 years. He is joined by principal clarinetist Wenzel Fuchs and principal horn player Stefan Dohr. Rounding out the group are violist Park Gyeong-min — the first Korean to hold a permanent position in the Berlin Philharmonic — and cellist Kian Soltani, an exclusive Deutsche Grammophon artist.

The program is devoted entirely to Brahms chamber works. It opens with the Horn Trio in E-flat major, celebrated for its warm lyricism, then moves to the Clarinet Trio in A minor, suffused with the solitude and maturity of Brahms's late style, before culminating in the Piano Quartet No. 1 in G minor, a work of intense dramatic energy. The concert draws on the deep rapport Cho forged with these musicians during the 2024/25 season, when he served as artist-in-residence with the Berlin Philharmonic.

From Baroque to Chopin, a recital woven around dance

The energy of the chamber concerts carries directly into Cho's solo programs. Recitals at Lotte Concert Hall on July 19 and at Pyeongtaek Arts Center on July 29 will offer audiences an unmediated encounter with his musical depth.

The unifying theme of both recitals is dance. The programming moves boldly across eras and forms, from the stylized dance suites of the Baroque period to the radical modernist idiom of the 20th century.

The first half opens with Bach's Partita No. 1 in B-flat major, then turns to Schoenberg's Piano Suite, Op. 25 — a work that reinterprets the traditional Baroque dance-suite structure through the twelve-tone technique, and one Cho has rarely featured in his programs. The half closes with Schumann's "Faschingsschwank aus Wien," a vivid, fantastical portrait of carnival revelry.

The second half belongs entirely to Chopin. Since winning the International Chopin Piano Competition in 2015, Cho has become one of the most beloved interpreters of Chopin's music worldwide. Here he will perform all 14 of Chopin's waltzes in sequence. How the poetic sensibility and accumulated depth he has brought to Chopin over the years will find expression within the overarching narrative of dance is the central question these recitals set out to answer.

An artist who defines a hall, and the flowering of regional culture

The tour also marks a significant milestone in the qualitative growth and geographic diversification of Korea's classical music scene.

Lotte Concert Hall, which celebrates its 10th anniversary this year, has named Cho its artist-in-residence for 2026. The designation goes beyond a standard rental or guest-artist arrangement: the hall has given Cho full creative control over planning and programming. The relationship between the two has deep roots — Cho gave his first domestic solo recital at Lotte Concert Hall when it opened in 2016, making this residency a meaningful reflection on a decade shared together.

The tour also extends a thoughtful hand to classical audiences outside Seoul. Hwaseong Arts Center and Pyeongtaek Arts Center, both of which opened last year, are relative newcomers to the performing arts landscape. Cho's arrival is expected to help establish them as leading cultural platforms in the greater Seoul area.


shee@heraldcorp.com