The 2023 Gonjiam Music Festival commenced Monday with a gala concert harmonizing musicians across diverse genres and backgrounds.

The opening was the Opening Peace Gala Concert, highlighting the importance of peace on the 70th anniversary of The Korea Herald’s founding, the 70th anniversary of the Armistice Agreement and the 70th anniversary of the Korea-US Alliance.

The Korea Herald was founded on Aug. 15, 1953, less than a month after the signing of the Korean Armistice Agreement, which marked the cease-fire of the Korean War.

“That's a fantastic moment in history to have this 70th year together. The journalism over 70 years here in Korea and the military must be just something you could build a entire museum on in itself,” Maj. Ryan Whittle of United States Forces Korea and the United Nations Command told The Korea Herald on Monday.

Foreign chamber of commerce leaders and foreign envoys attending the concert included Ambassador Delwar Hossain from Bangladesh, Ambassador Tamara Mawhinney from Canada, Ambassador Khaled Abdel Rahman from Egypt, Ambassador Ekaterini Loupas from Greece, Ambassador Nabeel Munir from Pakistan, Ambassador Theresa Dizon-De Vega from the Philippines, Ambassador Begench Durdyyev from Turkmenistan and seven charges d'affaires.

"Congratulations to The Korea Herald on the 70th anniversary of its founding and everyone who performed in the concert. I really enjoyed the performance of Korean and foreign musicians and singers," Yulia Kaplan, a diplomat at the Ukraine Embassy, told The Korea Herald.

As a special guest, the 8th Army Brass Band performed “Amazing Grace” with the orchestra and vocal group Uangelvoice.

The concert brought together renowned musicians including pianist Kim Dae-jin, the Korea Chamber Orchestra, pianist Park Jong-hwa, violist Lee Soo-min, cellist Shim Joon-ho, tenor Kim Hong-tae and mezzo soprano Choo Hee-myung.

Pianist Kim, the president of the Korea National University of Arts, assumed the role of conductor for the evening with the Korea Chamber Orchestra, an ensemble with a history of 58 years.

Under Kim's baton, the KCO performed the overture from "The Abduction From the Seraglio," K. 384, and the overture from "Don Giovanni," K. 527, both by Mozart.

Flutists Baik Soo-hyun, director of the Gonjiam Festival Andrea Griminelli, Andras Adorjan, Sharon Bezaaly, Phillip Jundt and Loic Schneider showcased the charms of the flute at the opening concert of the festival, which was founded in 2016 by flutists Paik and Jundt with the aim of promoting the flute and its musical significance.

The festival takes place in Gwangju, Gyeonggi Province, about 16 kilometers southeast of Seoul, in an effort to promote the city as a global city of the arts. The city's Mayor Bang Se-hwan was also in attendance.

Korean traditional percussion performance group Basic and Creation joined Baik and violist Lee Soo-min to perform “Korean Bird Songs,” an arrangement by composer Park Jeong-kyu. Park created a version that mixes classical and traditional Korean music.

Bezaly and Schneider mesmerized the audience with the third movement from Doppler's Concerto for 2 flutes in D minor and Adoryan and Jundt delivered a captivating rendition of Zigeunerweisen in C minor, Op. 20.

To wrap up the concert, the Children’s Choir of the Far East Broadcasting Co., violist Lee, cellist Shim and Uangelvoice, along with the orchestra, joined forces to perform “Half Moon” and “Spring in My Hometown,” popular Korean children's and gagok songs, respectively, rearranged by composer Park Jeong-kyu.