Women Gain Key Roles in Seoul Arts Landscape

Chang Han-na [pictured] is to be the new president of the Seoul Arts Center. The 44-year-old cellist and conductor is the first woman, the first musician, and the youngest individual to assume the position. She is expected to begin her three-year  term as soon as April 24.

Chang first came to international attention in 1994, when she won the top prize at the Rostropovich International Cello Competition at age 11. Until she shifted her focus to conducting in 2007, she performed with such leading orchestras as the Berlin Philharmonic, New York Philharmonic, and London Symphony Orchestra.

She has graced the podiums of leading orchestras in Europe and North America and served as music director of the Trondheim Symphony Orchestra from 2016 to 2025. Currently she is principal guest conductor of the Hamburg Symphony Orchestra and visiting professor at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology.

Chang’s appointment is part of a broader reshuffling of leadership among South Korea’s major performing arts institutions that emphasizes artistic leadership grounded in field experience, as Korea seeks to elevate the reputation of its performing arts sector.

Soprano Park Hye-jin and pianist Yoo Mee-jung both assumed their new three-year terms as the respective head and artistic director of the National Opera Company of Korea and chief executive of the National Symphony Orchestra on April 7; both organizations are based at the Seoul Arts Center. Park Hye-jin, former head of the Seoul Metropolitan Opera, enjoyed a career singing leading roles in such standards as La bohème, Carmen, and Turandot, while also teaching in academia. Yoo Mee-jung was an active performer in recital and with orchestra while also teaching at Dankook University.

AJU Press