Kang Hyo, a violin professor at the Juilliard School and Yale School and the founder and director of the strings ensemble Sejong, launched the first Great Mountains Music Festival and School in 2004.
Q. Did the fact that it took place during the Olympics affect interest in the festival?
A. Actually, the artists, students and visitors I met said this year’s program was the most successful yet. About 40,000 people attended the three-week run this year [compared to 35,000 last year]. Also, a record number of students participated in the classes this year.
How are you going to make the festival an internationally recognized event?
The area that we’ve focused on the most since the start is the content - the quality of the concerts, school and management. That said, I consider it extremely important to listen to feedback from the participants, who have been to world-renowned music festivals. In the future, we hope to increase the number of programs without sacrificing the quality achieved.
Speaking of future plans, you’ve got several new projects in the pipeline, such as a new concert hall. What is your greatest concern for the future?
The hardest task will be contributing to the development of our country and culture, like other prestigious international music festivals. But if we maintain the high quality of our music, the new hall will help us gain international recognition.
