SEOUL PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA
First US Tour in more than 10 years

Jaap van Zweden, Music Director & Conductor
Bomsori Kim, Violin | Jae Hong Park, Piano

October 27: Carnegie Hall in New York
U.S. Premiere by Jung Jae-il

October 29 – November 1: The McKnight Center for the Performing Arts at Oklahoma State University
Donghoon Shin’s Upon His Ghostly Solitude

The Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra (SPO) returns for its first American tour in more than ten years under the baton of its new Music Director Jaap van Zweden, with performances at Carnegie Hall in New York and at The McKnight Center for the Performing Arts at Oklahoma State University.

The SPO plays a leading role in shaping the Korean classical music scene and providing an international platform for Korean artists.  On this U.S. tour, two outstanding Korean soloists join the orchestra: Deutsche Grammophon recording artist violinist Bomsori Kim in Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto in E minor; and Jae Hong Park, the young Korean pianist who astonished the world at the 2021 Ferruccio Busoni International Piano Competition in Rachmaninoff’s Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini.

The concert at Carnegie Hall features the U.S. premiere of Inferno by composer Jung Jae-il, who is well-known for his scores composed for the film Parasite and TV series Squid Game; Inferno will also be performed at the McKnight Center. Jae-il, who will attend the Carnegie, found inspiration for the work in the last sentence of Italo Calvino’s Invisible Cities: “The second [way to escape the inferno] is risky and demands constant vigilance and apprehension: seek and  learn to recognize who and what, In the midst of the inferno, Are not inferno, Then make them endure, give them space.”  Jae-il explains, “As I reflect on the countless deaths, suffering, and farewells caused by wars, plagues, and natural disasters occurring around the world, I realize that their scale is far beyond what I could ever fathom. In the face of darkness and flames, where not even an inch ahead is visible, I tried to think about how we are to go on living.”  The composer adds, “Though I am a composer without formal classical training, I would like to express my deep gratitude to Maestro van Zweden, who encouraged me from our very first meeting and gave me the courage to take on the challenge of composition.”

A recent work by Korean composer Donghoon Shin, Upon His Ghostly Solitude, co-commissioned by the SPO and inspired by the poetry of Yeats and the music of Alban Berg, is also featured in the second Oklahoma concert.

Monday, October 27, 2025
Carnegie Hall / Stern Auditorium
New York, NY
Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra
Jaap van Zweden, Music Director and Conductor
Bomsori Kim, Violin
Tickets & Information

Jung Jae-il, Inferno - US Premiere
Mendelssohn, Violin Concerto in E minor, Op. 64
Rachmaninoff, Symphony No. 2 in E minor, Op. 27

October 29-31, 2025
The McKnight Center for the Performing Arts at Oklahoma State University
Stillwater, OK
Single Tickets on Sale August 11
Tickets & Information

October 29 at 7:30 pm
Chamber Music by Seoul Philharmonic Musicians and Pianist Jae Hong Park
This chamber music concert features select orchestra musicians in trio and quartet arrangements, set in The McKnight Center's intimate Recital Hall.
Rachmaninoff Piano Trio No. 1 in G minor, op. posth. “Élégiaque”
Rodion Shchedrin Three Funny Pieces
Brahms Piano Quartet No. 1 in G minor, op. 25

Thursday, October 30, 2025
Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra
Jaap van Zweden, Music Director and Conductor
Bomsori Kim, Violin
Donghoon Shin Upon His Ghostly Solitude (2023)
Mendelssohn Violin Concerto in E minor, Op. 64
Rachmaninoff Symphony No. 2 in E minor, Op. 27

Saturday, November 1, 2025
McKnight Center for the Performing Arts
Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, OK
Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra
Jaap van Zweden, Music Director and Conductor
Jae Hong Park, piano
Jung Jae-il Inferno
Rachmaninoff Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini, Op. 43
Brahms Symphony No. 1 in C minor, Op. 68