TIMF
Encyclopedia
TIMF is an abbreviated title of Tongyeong International Music Festival (통영국제음악제). It covers the title of the event concerned and at the same time, a wide umbrella of diversified business branches within categories of the event concerned.
Tongyeong International Music Festival is an annual music festival held in Tongyeong City
of Gyeongnam Province, located in the Republic of Korea (South Korea). Considering the classification between ethnic and artistic categories, TIMF may be classified into one of Korea's leading arts
and music festival
s which is specialized in western music, i.e. with a variety of style and genre, such as contemporary, early(baroque)
, classical
, romantic
, traditional, symphonic, chamber or ensemble, operatic or music theater. In spite of its various appetite for genre, TIMF is usually known as being strong in contemporary program of western style music.
(윤이상
; 1917~1995), a world renowned composer who was born in Tongyeong
and lived the latter part of life in Berlin, Germany. Tongyeong is his birthplace and also a city where Yun settled down and took the first job of teaching at high schools. At 39, Yun moved to Europe to study, and settled down in Berlin University of the Arts
, Germany. As a full time professor, he educated so many young artists whether they are composers or players, and many of his disciples were Koreans or from Korea.
Isang Yun's Korean disciples were the ones that led TIMF project to be feasible. They first sought for sponsorship from the municipal government in order to present an introductory concert titled as 'Night of Isang Yun's Music'. This singular concert was held in 1999 and found itself to be successful thanks to hails of so many Korean artists.
The disciples were encouraged by this success, and they tried to develop it into Tongyeong Contemporary Music Festival
. This Festival is now recognized as an archetype of TIMF's current format, and on its threshold, it was a reformatory challenge to extend a singular concert to a form of a three-days festival.
This Festival is very similar to 'the prerent' TIMF in the following features.
a. It was organized in a perfect form of a festival
, as being held for three consecutive days.
b. Each different concert presented each different content in program, style and instrumentation
.
c. Consistency was met in content programming, as the Festival set its own theme.
2 years of experiments in the form of festival made it clear that the content of western music could be cooperatively coexistent with Tongyeong's environments. The opinions arose among the populace that the Festival should be developed into an international format.
But the initiators did not make haste. Their next step was to establish an independent entity of a foundation. This action was necessary because the activity of hosting a festival should be politically neutral and cannot be disturbed by politicians or governments. The initiators formed the Board of Directors
being helped by the provincial
and the municipal
governments, and the Board determined the initiative proposals to constitute a foundation and elect Seong-Yawng Park(1932~2005) as the first Chairman of TIMF Foundation. The Foundation was established and registered in February 2002.
TIMF 2002, the first edition of a new 'international' format, was presented by this new legal entity through organizational forces caused by the Board, the Managing Committee and the Administration Office. Based upon the past 2 years' experiences, the programmers of the Secretariat constituted Tongyeong International Music Festival 2002, for 8 consecutive days in March.
The programmers kept deciding a new theme for each year. The theme was always derived from a subtitle of Isang Yun's works. Although there always arose a need to construct a new concert hall, Tongyeong Arts Center with Main Hall (880 seats) and Small Hall (290 seats), was always the official venue. The following is the prospectus of Tongyeong International Music Festival since its first edition up to now.
, a Korean composer born in Tongyeong. As Isang Yun was helped and discovered by European sponsors when in the past he endeavored to research abroad, TIMF finds it as an organizational mission to discover many other young composers who may succeed to Isang Yun's legacy. From this reason, TIMF's programmers do make it usual commission new works to young composers with brilliant creativity.
Since Asia is still regarded upon as the periphery of music society, TIMF's discoveries are mainly focused on Asian composers. The following is the selected list of Asian composers whom TIMF has proudly found over the last decade by setting their own repertoire on stage.
Toru Takemitsu
(Japan; 1930~1996)
Tongyeong International Music Festival is an annual music festival held in Tongyeong City
Tongyeong
Tongyeong is a coastal city in South Gyeongsang Province, South Korea. In 2010, it had an area of 238.81 ㎢ and a population of 139,869 people. It is divided into 1 eup , 6 myeon and 11 dong . Chungmu city and Tongyeong county were reunited in 1995, creating Tongyeong City as we know it today...
of Gyeongnam Province, located in the Republic of Korea (South Korea). Considering the classification between ethnic and artistic categories, TIMF may be classified into one of Korea's leading arts
Arts festival
An arts festival is a festival that focuses on the visual arts in all its forms, but which may also focus on or include other arts.Arts festivals in the visual arts are exhibitions and are not to be confused with the commercial art fair. Artists participate in the most important of such festival...
and music festival
Music festival
A music festival is a festival oriented towards music that is sometimes presented with a theme such as musical genre, nationality or locality of musicians, or holiday. They are commonly held outdoors, and are often inclusive of other attractions such as food and merchandise vending machines,...
s which is specialized in western music, i.e. with a variety of style and genre, such as contemporary, early(baroque)
Early music
Early music is generally understood as comprising all music from the earliest times up to the Renaissance. However, today this term has come to include "any music for which a historically appropriate style of performance must be reconstructed on the basis of surviving scores, treatises,...
, classical
Classical period (music)
The dates of the Classical Period in Western music are generally accepted as being between about 1750 and 1830. However, the term classical music is used colloquially to describe a variety of Western musical styles from the ninth century to the present, and especially from the sixteenth or...
, romantic
Romantic music
Romantic music or music in the Romantic Period is a musicological and artistic term referring to a particular period, theory, compositional practice, and canon in Western music history, from 1810 to 1900....
, traditional, symphonic, chamber or ensemble, operatic or music theater. In spite of its various appetite for genre, TIMF is usually known as being strong in contemporary program of western style music.
History
The origin of this festival results from the spirit to commemorate Isang YunIsang Yun
Isang Yun was a Korean-German composer originally from Korea. According to his official publisher's Boosey & Hawkes biography of him, he was granted political asylum by West Germany, eventually becoming a naturalised German citizen, following his abduction and torture in 1967 by the South Korean...
(윤이상
Isang Yun
Isang Yun was a Korean-German composer originally from Korea. According to his official publisher's Boosey & Hawkes biography of him, he was granted political asylum by West Germany, eventually becoming a naturalised German citizen, following his abduction and torture in 1967 by the South Korean...
; 1917~1995), a world renowned composer who was born in Tongyeong
Tongyeong
Tongyeong is a coastal city in South Gyeongsang Province, South Korea. In 2010, it had an area of 238.81 ㎢ and a population of 139,869 people. It is divided into 1 eup , 6 myeon and 11 dong . Chungmu city and Tongyeong county were reunited in 1995, creating Tongyeong City as we know it today...
and lived the latter part of life in Berlin, Germany. Tongyeong is his birthplace and also a city where Yun settled down and took the first job of teaching at high schools. At 39, Yun moved to Europe to study, and settled down in Berlin University of the Arts
Berlin University of the Arts
The Universität der Künste Berlin, UdK is a public art school in Berlin, Germany, one of the four universities in the city...
, Germany. As a full time professor, he educated so many young artists whether they are composers or players, and many of his disciples were Koreans or from Korea.
Isang Yun's Korean disciples were the ones that led TIMF project to be feasible. They first sought for sponsorship from the municipal government in order to present an introductory concert titled as 'Night of Isang Yun's Music'. This singular concert was held in 1999 and found itself to be successful thanks to hails of so many Korean artists.
The disciples were encouraged by this success, and they tried to develop it into Tongyeong Contemporary Music Festival
Tongyeong Contemporary Music Festival
Tongyeong Contemporary Music Festival is known as an archetype of Tongyeong International Music Festival. It was held in Tongyeong, Korea, within almost the same prospectus as in TIMF, including the spirit to commemorate Isang Yun, a renowned composer who was born in Tongyeong.This festival took...
. This Festival is now recognized as an archetype of TIMF's current format, and on its threshold, it was a reformatory challenge to extend a singular concert to a form of a three-days festival.
This Festival is very similar to 'the prerent' TIMF in the following features.
a. It was organized in a perfect form of a festival
Festival
A festival or gala is an event, usually and ordinarily staged by a local community, which centers on and celebrates some unique aspect of that community and the Festival....
, as being held for three consecutive days.
b. Each different concert presented each different content in program, style and instrumentation
Instrumentation (music)
In music, instrumentation refers to the particular combination of musical instruments employed in a composition, and to the properties of those instruments individually...
.
c. Consistency was met in content programming, as the Festival set its own theme.
2 years of experiments in the form of festival made it clear that the content of western music could be cooperatively coexistent with Tongyeong's environments. The opinions arose among the populace that the Festival should be developed into an international format.
But the initiators did not make haste. Their next step was to establish an independent entity of a foundation. This action was necessary because the activity of hosting a festival should be politically neutral and cannot be disturbed by politicians or governments. The initiators formed the Board of Directors
Board of directors
A board of directors is a body of elected or appointed members who jointly oversee the activities of a company or organization. Other names include board of governors, board of managers, board of regents, board of trustees, and board of visitors...
being helped by the provincial
Province
A province is a territorial unit, almost always an administrative division, within a country or state.-Etymology:The English word "province" is attested since about 1330 and derives from the 13th-century Old French "province," which itself comes from the Latin word "provincia," which referred to...
and the municipal
Municipality
A municipality is essentially an urban administrative division having corporate status and usually powers of self-government. It can also be used to mean the governing body of a municipality. A municipality is a general-purpose administrative subdivision, as opposed to a special-purpose district...
governments, and the Board determined the initiative proposals to constitute a foundation and elect Seong-Yawng Park(1932~2005) as the first Chairman of TIMF Foundation. The Foundation was established and registered in February 2002.
TIMF 2002, the first edition of a new 'international' format, was presented by this new legal entity through organizational forces caused by the Board, the Managing Committee and the Administration Office. Based upon the past 2 years' experiences, the programmers of the Secretariat constituted Tongyeong International Music Festival 2002, for 8 consecutive days in March.
The programmers kept deciding a new theme for each year. The theme was always derived from a subtitle of Isang Yun's works. Although there always arose a need to construct a new concert hall, Tongyeong Arts Center with Main Hall (880 seats) and Small Hall (290 seats), was always the official venue. The following is the prospectus of Tongyeong International Music Festival since its first edition up to now.
Editions
| Year | Theme | Dates |
|---|---|---|
| TIMF 2002 | Fanfare & Memorial | March 8 to March 15 |
| TIMF 2003 | Dream | March 25 to April 2 |
| TIMF 2004 | Espace | March 22 to March 27, June 20, August 30, December 12 |
| TIMF 2005 | Memory | March 17 to March 22, July 3 to July 8, October 28 to November 6 |
| TIMF 2006 | Flux | March 21 to March 26, October 27 to November 6 |
| TIMF 2007 | Rencontre | March 23 to March 29, July 2 to July 7, October 26 to November 4 |
| TIMF 2008 | Freiheit | March 21 to March 26, November 1 to November 9 |
| TIMF 2009 | East & West | March 27 to April 2, June 29 to July 4, November 14 to November 22 |
| TIMF 2010 | Music + | March 19 to March 25 |
Programs
The uniqueness in contemporary programming results from its spiritual motto that encourages programmers to commemorate and inherit creative minds of Isang YunIsang Yun
Isang Yun was a Korean-German composer originally from Korea. According to his official publisher's Boosey & Hawkes biography of him, he was granted political asylum by West Germany, eventually becoming a naturalised German citizen, following his abduction and torture in 1967 by the South Korean...
, a Korean composer born in Tongyeong. As Isang Yun was helped and discovered by European sponsors when in the past he endeavored to research abroad, TIMF finds it as an organizational mission to discover many other young composers who may succeed to Isang Yun's legacy. From this reason, TIMF's programmers do make it usual commission new works to young composers with brilliant creativity.
Since Asia is still regarded upon as the periphery of music society, TIMF's discoveries are mainly focused on Asian composers. The following is the selected list of Asian composers whom TIMF has proudly found over the last decade by setting their own repertoire on stage.
Toru Takemitsu
Toru Takemitsu
was a Japanese composer and writer on aesthetics and music theory. Largely self-taught, Takemitsu possessed consummate skill in the subtle manipulation of instrumental and orchestral timbre...
(Japan; 1930~1996)