At Seoul Spring Festival of Chamber Music, Mozart and prodigies to take center stage
Published: 13 Apr. 2026, 18:32
Updated: 13 Apr. 2026, 19:36
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- LIM JEONG-WON
- [email protected]
![Musicians perform during a closing concert of the 2025 Seoul Spring Festival of Chamber Music at the Seoul Arts Center in Seocho District, southern Seoul, on May 4, 2025. [SEOUL SPRING FESTIVAL OF CHAMBER MUSIC]](https://koreaseafood.online/data/photo/2026/04/13/97886f11-bd49-40d1-a12b-6b4c177fe17f.jpg)
Musicians perform during a closing concert of the 2025 Seoul Spring Festival of Chamber Music at the Seoul Arts Center in Seocho District, southern Seoul, on May 4, 2025. [SEOUL SPRING FESTIVAL OF CHAMBER MUSIC]
The Seoul Spring Festival of Chamber Music (SSF) will return from April 21 to May 3 with a lineup that mixes Mozart, French music and a showcase for rising prodigies — with 12-year-old violinist Kim Yeon-ah expected to be one of the most-watched names in the program.
The 21st edition of the SSF will be held across venues including Seoul Arts Center’s IBK Chamber Hall, Sejong Center’s Chamber Hall and Art Space 3, with 13 concerts featuring a total of 82 artists. This year’s theme is “Mozart and Prodigies.”
At the center of the pre-festival buzz is Kim, the young violinist who drew global attention after a 2024 YouTube video showed her spontaneously playing Vivaldi’s “Four Seasons” at an airport in Rome. She is set to appear in the festival’s “Prodigies” concert on May 2 at Seoul Arts Center, where she will perform Sarasate’s “Carmen Fantasy” for violin and piano.
Kim has already built an unusually high-profile resume for her age, winning the Zhuhai International Mozart Competition in 2023 and becoming the youngest-ever first-prize winner at the Antonín Dvořák International Radio Competition for Young Musicians.
“The fourth movement of ‘Carmen Fantasy’ has been my main focus in practice, because of its scale and technical difficulty,” said Kim during a press conference for the SSF in Jongno District, central Seoul, on Monday. “Large audiences actually help calm my nerves, since applause tends to loosen the tension rather than increase it.”
In another moment that underlined both her age and poise, Kim described the violin as something like a friend and family member that understands her feelings.
![Pianist Lim Hyo-sun, left, Artistic Director of the 2026 Seoul Spring Festival of Chamber Music (SSF) Kang Dong-suk, center, and violinist Kim Yeon-ah attend a press conference for the opening of the SSF at a venue in Jongno District, central Seoul on April 13. [YONHAP]](https://koreaseafood.online/data/photo/2026/04/13/dc1b9417-3383-4a3a-8195-c1bd69753b57.jpg)
Pianist Lim Hyo-sun, left, Artistic Director of the 2026 Seoul Spring Festival of Chamber Music (SSF) Kang Dong-suk, center, and violinist Kim Yeon-ah attend a press conference for the opening of the SSF at a venue in Jongno District, central Seoul on April 13. [YONHAP]
The festival is not leaning on youth alone. Artistic director Kang Dong-suk said Mozart was chosen as the central figure because he was both the most iconic child prodigy in music history and one of the first major composers to take chamber music seriously.
“Mozart’s six string quintets, notable for their prominent viola parts, helped shape this year’s programming, which will feature an especially strong showing of violists,” Kang said. “We wanted to spotlight lesser-heard Mozart works alongside more familiar ones.”
A full program of the SSF can be found on the festival’s website.
BY LIM JEONG-WON [[email protected]]
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
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