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UN Secretary-General Guest of Honour at 11th Anniversary Gala of the Sejong Soloists “Dream Team” at Carnegie Hall

Ban Ki-moon With Paula Zahn (Photo Times Square Gossip)

Sejong Soloists, the brilliant 14-piece conductor less string ensemble, often referred to as the sensational “dream team,” once again razzled and dazzled an internationally distinguished audience at their 11th Annual Gala in New York.

This group of former Juilliard students has been receiving laudatory reviews since their formation in the mid-1990’s, and has established itself to be a first-class string orchestra, renowned for its exceptional dynamic style with ranges of quartet-like precision to full orchestra resonance. The ensemble has performed approximately 400 concerts on major stages around the world, including Carnegie Hall, the Kennedy Center, Cadogan Hall in London, Salle Gaveau in Paris, Suntory Hall in Tokyo and Seoul Arts Center.

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, South Korean Ambassador to the United Nations In-kook Park, and Consul General Young-Mok Kim attended along with more than 30 United Nations ambassadors. For her 11th year in a row, Television journalist Paula Zahn, formerly with CNN, served as the delightful host for the event, sponsored by the Seoul Metropolitan Government’s “Visit Korea Year” tourism campaign and Samsung Electronics America Inc. The performance featured special guest artists mezzo-soprano Sasha Cooke, pianist Seong-Jin Cho, and violinist Daniel Cho.

At the after-party gala, Makgeolli, the famous Korean rice wine, was served for the first time at Carnegie Hall at the reception hosted by Samuel Koo, president of the Seoul Tourism Organization. In addition to bringing music to Carnegie Hall, Sejong is known to bring its Korean culinary specialties, including kimchi to Carnegie for the first time at a previous reception for its 2007 concert. During the reception, where artists, diplomats, and other guests mingled into the late hours of the night, videos promoting Korea's tourism and advanced technologies, including pharmaceutical industries, were presented.

The world-renowned ensemble, which performs under the artistic direction of Juilliard violin faculty member Hyo Kang, consists of some of the finest rising stars from Australia, Canada, China, Germany, Japan, Korea, Taiwan and the United States. Each member is an accomplished soloist and chamber musician and they have been performing in cities throughout the U.S., Europe, and Asia. Although the Sejong Soloists perform music from the standard string literature, but they are also committed to new music, and have commissioned works from composers such as Augusta Read Thomas, Richard Danielpour, Eric Ewazen and Jay Greenberg, among others. The group is based in New York, and it has its second home in Seoul.

The ever charming Paula Zahn, an accomplished cellist herself exclaimed, “I can hardly believe I am upon my second decade with this brilliant ensemble.” She not only hosted the evening and joined the ensemble on cello for the holiday favorite “White Christmas,” but also informed the audience of all Korea's other unknown accomplishments, including mentioning that Seoul was the first city to have electricity.

The evening introduced the 16-year-old Seong-Jin Cho to New York City audiences, who is already a celebrated pianist in Korea and Japan. He has already garnered top prizes in both the seventh Hamamatsu International Piano competition and the sixth Moscow Chopin Competition for Young Pianists. Recently he participated in the Castleton Festival where he played the Grieg Piano Concerto at the invitation of the world-renowned Lorin Maazel. Another youngster, the 16-year-old violinist and Julliard Pre-College Division student Daniel Cho was the winner of the 2009 Great Mountains international Music Festival Competition. Their musical careers are blossoming and they are scheduled to record the Mendelssohn piece for Universal Korea later this year. It is Sejong Soloists’ mission to foster the next generation of musicians so as to keep classical music alive today. Their talents and vigorous passion awed the audience as they performed their pieces moving their entire bodies on stage. “This was a very meaningful and special moment all around: a young composer’s work was played by these young people with incredible energy,” said the very proud Hyo Kang of Julliard. “It is an exceptional moment to discover such stellar talent and be able to create an opportunity for them to perform at Carnegie Hall, much to the delight of tonight’s audience.”

The concert also featured celebrated American mezzo-soprano Sasha Cooke, a graduate of Rice University, the Juilliard School, and the Metropolitan Opera's Lindemann Young Artist Development Program. Cooke caused a sensation as Kitty Oppenheimer in the Metropolitan Opera premiere of John Adams’s Doctor Atomic. She was praised in The New Yorker for her “fresh, vital portrayal, bringing a luminous tone, a generously supported musical line, a keen sense of verbal nuance, and a flair for seduction.”

Among the classical musical pieces performed included Corell's Concerto Grosso in G minor, Op.6 No. 8, “Christmas Concerto,” Mendelssohn's Concerto for Violin and Piano in D minor. The luminously beautiful and pregnant Sasha Cooke sang Ottorino Respighi's “Il Tramonto.” She was certainly a standout singing vigorously with a warm, radiant tone. During the reception, she was surrounded by fans who congratulated her, not only on her performance, but also on her upcoming new career as a mother. “I am delighted to perform and intend to do so until I give birth,” she shared at the reception.

At the end of the concert and reception where guests were welcomed and greeted by Korean women elegantly dressed in their colorful national costume, one was certainly curious to learn more about what the country has to offer to the world, both as a tourist and a business partner. “With dignitaries like top U.N. diplomats attending, we are happy to partner with Sejong Soloists,” said Samuel Koo, President of the Seoul Tourism Organization. “The Sejong Soloists ensemble is a fixture on Seoul’s exciting cultural scene, which counts more artistic performance of all kinds on an average day than any other Asian city.”

This diverse ensemble was the brainchild of Artistic Director Hyo Kang, who himself is a renowned violin professor at Yale University and the Juilliard School. Its goals are multifold continuing to bring musical performances, television and radio broadcasts, youth development activities as well as philanthropic endeavors worldwide.

By Dina Pinos – MercoPress - New York Correspondent