Bucheon Philharmonic Orchestra

The Bucheon Philharmonic Orchestra was founded in 1988, with Seo Hoon as its inaugural principal conductor. Im Hun-jeong took up the principal conductorship in 1989 and helped establish an identity built around sustained exploration of major orchestral cycles. Between 1999 and 2003 the ensemble presented Korea’s first complete cycle of Mahler symphonies, alongside twentieth-century repertoire and complete Beethoven and Brahms symphonic programmes. A Bruckner cycle followed between 2007 and 2013. The orchestra received the Ho-Am Arts Award in 2005 and has performed abroad, including a 2014 tour to Vienna, Prague and Munich. Its history reflects the development of a municipal ensemble into an orchestra with a national and international profile.