Performer: KBS Symphony Orchestra

In Myung-whun Chung’s first concert as the orchestra’s tenth Music Director, Leonidas Kavakos’ account of Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto is built on exposure rather than varnish. 

An evening at the Seoul Arts Center in which clarity matters as much as volume and the most telling virtuosity comes from a refusal to grandstand.

Propulsive Prokofiev from pianist Dmitry Shishkin between Ravel’s hypnotic minimalism and Schoenberg’s late-Romantic complexity. 

The appointment coincides with the orchestra’s 70th anniversary in 2026, and will see Chung take overall responsibility for the ensemble’s artistic planning and direction.

With concerts featuring Myung-whun Chung at the piano, Pinchas Zukerman leading from the podium, and inventive programming from Chief Conductor Andrea Battistoni, the Tokyo Philharmonic’s 2025 season straddles many divides.