My last day of the tour! The orchestra has one more concert tomorrow with the brilliant young conductor Hankyeol Yoon, but I have to head back to Helsinki for rehearsals of my next opera production Hänsel und Gretel, which is premiering soon. Luckily, my flight isn’t until the evening — just enough time for one final mini adventure.
By coincidence, percussionist Dominique Vleeshouwers is also in Seoul. We meet up for lunch (my very first bibimbap!) with Seong Yeon, winner of the Tromp Competition. It felt almost symbolic — not even six months ago, Dominique was performing as a soloist with us in Eötvös’s Speaking Drums at the Fête de la Musique. Small world!
Later, I wander through the city with Ronan, our Head of Artistic Planning. Coffee and cake, a few souvenir stops, getting lost in parks and side streets, and discovering (after a 30-minute taxi ride, of course) that museums are closed on Mondays. 😅 Then a mad dash back to the hotel to catch my flight.
