(The CEN News / Reporter Seung-ryeol Lee)
The stage is smaller, but the sound is deeper. In the intimate Chamber Hall at the Busan Cultural Center, a performance that begins with a single breath will carry through to its last note. The oboe takes center stage.
On the 15th at 7:30 p.m., the Busan Cultural Center presents the Busan Philharmonic's chamber series Zoom In I. The concept is simple: spotlight a single player and explore every facet of one instrument. Since launching in 2022, the series has favored density and focus over scale.
This edition puts the oboe front and center. Choi Jin, associate principal oboist of the Busan Philharmonic, leads the program, accompanied by pianist Kim Jae-won. True to the oboe's role in tuning an orchestra, the instrument shapes the concert's phrasing and momentum from the very first breath.
The program is compact and direct. It features five works—Clara Schumann's Three Romances, Poulenc's Oboe Sonata, Pasculli's Memories of Naples, Dranishnikova's Poem, and an English-horn Sonata by Yvonne—tracing a line from romanticism to the present and confronting them through a single timbre.
The performers bring a stripped-down clarity. Choi has built experience as a guest player with orchestras at home and abroad and has extended his reach into international competitions. Since winning first place in the Dong-A Music Competition, Kim has solidified his voice across solo and chamber repertoire. Their interplay will be crucial to the program's impact.
The format brings the audience closer. In a chamber hall centered on one instrument, spectacle gives way to texture; every nuance of tone is laid bare. It's a concert where breath and sound are inseparable.
Tickets are available on the Busan Cultural Center website. Tickets cost 10,000 KRW (about $7).
(The CEN News) Reporter Seung-ryeol Lee ottnews@kakao.com
