Before the year's end, world-renowned orchestras will come to South Korea and collaborate with two of the country’s most sought-after pianists: Cho Seong-jin and Lim Yunchan.

Cho will take the stage with the Vienna Philharmonic from Austria in October and the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra from Germany in November.

The Vienna Philharmonic is to visit the country for a fourth consecutive year, this time under the baton of Andris Nelsons. The orchestra will hold concerts at the Seoul Arts Center on Oct. 23 and 25 and at Lotte Concert Hall on Oct. 26.

Nelsons made his first appearance in Korea last year, leading the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra in a collaboration with Cho. Cho first performed with the Vienna Philharmonic at Carnegie Hall in New York in 2022. This will be their second collaboration.

On Oct. 25 and 26, the Vienna Philharmonic will perform Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 3 with Cho in the first half, followed by Richard Strauss’ tone poem,, “A Hero’s Life,” in the second half. Before that, on Oct. 23, they will collaborate with Japanese violinist Midori on Prokofiev’s Violin Concerto No. 1 and perform Mahler’s Symphony No. 5.

In November, Cho will take the stage with another maestro, Sir Simon Rattle, who will lead the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra in concerts at Lotte Concert Hall on Nov. 20 and 21.

The maestro, the former music director of the London Symphony Orchestra, has been the current chief conductor of the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra since September 2023.

Cho will collaborate with the orchestra for Brahms’ Piano Concerto No. 2 on Nov. 20 and Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 2 on Nov. 21. In addition to their performances with Cho, the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra will present Brahms’ Symphony No. 2 on Nov. 20, and on Nov. 21 the orchestra will perform Anton Webern’s Six Pieces for Orchestra and Anton Bruckner’s Symphony No. 9. After their performances in Korea, the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra will also tour Japan and Taiwan, with Cho continuing as the soloist.

Meanwhile, Lim Yunchan, the youngest winner of the Van Cliburn Competition, will join the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie as its featured soloist.

In its return to Korea after two years, the orchestra, known for captivating audiences worldwide with its rich tonal colors and detailed performances rivaling larger orchestras, is to be led by conductor Paavo Jarvi, who has served as its artistic director since 2004.

The first part of the concert opens with the overture to Mozart's “Don Giovanni.” This piece will be followed by Chopin's Piano Concerto No. 2, featuring Lim. The grand finale of the second part will be Mozart's Symphony No. 41, "Jupiter."

The concert will take place at the Seoul Arts Center Concert Hall on Dec. 18. Priority ticket sales for paid members of the Seoul Arts Center begin Wednesday at 3 p.m., while general sales will be available through the Seoul Arts Center and Interpark starting at 3 p.m. on Thursday.

In addition to the Seoul concert, performances are scheduled on Dec. 17 at Incheon Art Center and Dec. 21 at Daejeon Arts Center.