Management & representation
Love²Arts Gallery

Icheon Cultural Mission 2025

Following a successful edition in 2024, we have teamed up with Icheon Cultural Foundation once again for a new edition which features even more European musicians. "Icheon Cultural Mission 2025" is part of Icheon Cultural Foundation's aim to promote Icheon's local culture. Our collaboration consists of four events that are held in the Netherlands, Germany and Belgium.

The events include an Icheon Turtle Play performance followed by a classical concert.  The concert features traditional songs that have been adapted to classical music by pianist Uram Kim.

Dates

May 22 at 2:30pm: Hendrick Hamel Museum
Kortendijk 67, Gorinchem (Netherlands)

May 22 at 8pm: Koninklijke Harmonie "De Bazuin"
Dalemwal 15d, Gorinchem (Netherlands)

May 26 at 8pm: Ventana
Elisabeth-von-Mumm-Platz 1, Cologne (Germany)

May 27 at 8pm: AMUZ
Kammenstraat 81, Antwerp (Belgium)

About Icheon Turtle Play

Icheon Turtle Play originated from the agricultural society in the center of the Korean peninsula. It is a ritualistic folk play of a spiritual nature, mostly played during Chuseok — a mid-autumn harvest festival. It consists of people moving around the village with a turtle made up of dried corn stalk, wishing everyone good health and prosperity. It has become an Intangible Cultural Heritage of the Republic of Korea.

Performers

Icheon Turtle Play performers

Taegyeom Yu, Jinwoo Park, Eunji Shin, Yubin Choi, Seolhee Hong, Hyunsil Kim, Aekyung Hwang, Taesung Byun, Hoyoung Lee, Jaeyeon Won, Sungyong Lee, Doyoung Choung, Younggwang Choi and Jinkyung Jang
Lead performer: Yeonha Park
Translator: Jisoo Chae

Main classical performers

Eungkwang Lee

After studying at Seoul National University, Eungkwang Lee came to Germany to continue his training at the Hanns Eisler University of Music with Prof. Anneliese Fried.
His many awards include the 1st prize of the Alexander Girardi International Singing Competition in Coburg, the 1st and the special prize of the Riccardo Zandonai International Singing Competition in Riva del Garda and 1st prize at the Ernst Haefliger Concours in Bern/Gstaad.
He is also a prize winner at the Queen Elisabeth Competition in Brussels, the Hilde Zadek Competition in Vienna, the Seoul International Singing Competition and the Grand Prix Maria Callas in Athens.
Eungkwang Lee made his debut at the Seoul Art Center Opera House, the Korean National Opera, in 2007. With the Theater Basel ensemble, he has appeared in many opera's, including "Madame Butterfly", "Le nozze di Figaro", "Queen of Spades", "Aida", "Carmen", "Don Pasquale" and "Così fan tutte". He was also invited to the Musica Riva Festival every summer from 2008 to 2019.
In 2023, he was appointed CEO of the Icheon Cultural Foundation and was named a jury member of the 2023 Riccardo Zandonai International Singing Competition.

Lavinia Meijer

Lavinia Meijer studied harp at the conservatories of Utrecht (admitted at age 11) and Amsterdam, receiving her BA and MA with the highest distinction. Aged only 14, she was already performing with symphony orchestras.
Lavinia, an exclusive Sony Classical International artist, tours extensively around the world in classical and rock venues and at outdoor festivals. She has performed harp concertos with renowned orchestras, working with leading conductors. She has also received numerous awards, including 2 gold discs and a certified platinum disc for the album Metamorphosis / The Hours with pieces by composer Philip Glass.
Besides performing the standard classical harp repertoire, Lavinia experiments with electronic music, theatrical music, jazz and avant rock. Composers like Ellis Ludwig-Leone, Garrett Byrnes, Paul Patterson, Carlos Michans, Konstantia Gourzi and JacobTV have all written pieces for her.
Recently, she released Voyage (her seventh solo album), a live recording with bandoneonist Carel Kraayenhof, and The Glass Effect (to celebrate Philip Glass's 80th birthday).

Lisa Mostin

Coloratura soprano Lisa Mostin studied at the conservatory of Maastricht with Axel Everaert and in Florence with Margherita Rinaldi. During private lessons and masterclasses, she studied with internationally renowned musicians.
Lisa Mostin is one of Belgium's rising talents. She has been invited by world class opera houses in some of the most demanding roles. After having built her career in Germany at the Deutsche Oper Berlin, Staatsoper Stuttgart and Oper Bonn, she was one of three Music Theater Performer-nominees of the "Der Faust" Theater Prize in 2023 with her performance of La Compagna in "Intolleranza". She is also a finalist of the International Clermont-Ferrand Singing Competition.
Lisa is also writing a libretto for her first opera production featuring Vanessa Redgrave.

Sunja Wehmeier

Sunja Wehmeier is a Bonn-based freelance soprano and is recognized by both critics and listeners for her warm, dark timbre and full, round voice. She regularly performs at church concerts and masters a vast oratorio repertoire. She is also a guest vocalist at the Bonn Opera choir and regularly sings in the Bayerische Rundfunk choir.
Among the opera repertoire, she prefers lyrical parts, which highlight the warmth and expressive power of her voice. Her most famous roles include Mimi in La Bohème, Micaela in Carmen, the countess in the Marriage of Figaro by Mozart, and Liù in Puccini's Turandot. Sunja Wehmeier also teaches singing and piano and works as a vocal coach for children and adult choirs.
Sunja was taught at the Lübeck Academy of Music and at the Cologne University of Music by acclaimed soprano Edda Moser and followed masterclasses with Mirella Freni.

Program

The program will be updated once the list of works is available.

March 22 (Gorinchem)

Part 1: Icheon Turtle Play

Part 2: K-Classic
Special guest: Lavinia Meijer (harp)
Baritone: Eungkwang Lee
1st violin: Sarah Oates
2nd violin: Huiyeon Park
Viola: Sander Geerts
Cello: Olsi Leka
Piano: Uram Kim & Soyoung Lee

March 26 (Cologne)

Part 1: Icheon Turtle Play

Part 2: K-Classic
Special guest: Sunja Wehmeier (soprano)
Baritone: Eungkwang Lee
1st violin: Sarah Oates
2nd violin: Huiyeon Park
Viola: Sander Geerts
Cello: Laurentiu Sbarcea
Piano: Uram Kim & Soyoung Lee

March 27 (Antwerp)

Part 1: Icheon Turtle Play

Part 2: K-Classic
Special guest: Lisa Mostin (soprano)
Baritone: Eungkwang Lee
1st violin: Nicolas Dupont
2nd violin: Huiyeon Park
Viola: Sander Geerts
Cello: Olsi Leka
Piano: Uram Kim & Soyoung Lee

Further details

Entry fee: free

Contact: +32 473 40 69 11

Organized by the City of Icheon, Icheon Cultural Foundation and Sorodha

Reservation

Reservation for the event in Cologne is handled locally.  More info will be provided soon.

For Gorinchem and Antwerp, please use the reservation form below.

Reservation Gorinchem and Antwerp

* = required fields
*When would you like to attend? Specify how many people there will be in your group. It is allowed to attend more than one event.
Gorinchem
March 22 2:30pm:
person(s)
Gorinchem
March 22 8pm:
person(s)
Antwerp
March 27 8pm:
person(s)
Leave blank