The people of North and South Korea have launched many efforts to bridge the gap between their countries. They have pursued joint business projects. They have put together joint sports teams.

Hyung Joon Won, a world-renowned South Korean violinist and peace activist, is now working to create an Inter-Korean Orchestra with musicians from both North and South. As part of this effort, he has performed with North Korean soprano Song Mi Kim in both Stockholm and Shanghai.

In this presentation, he will describe how the power of music can help achieve harmony and peace on the Korean Peninsula. Frank Jannuzi will serve as a commenter. Frank Jannuzi, formerly the policy director of East Asian and Pacific Affairs for the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee, is the president of the Maureen and Mike Mansfield Foundation.

RSVP here.

Hyung Joon Won performed at the World Economic Forum that celebrated the 1990 reunification of East and West Germany. This inspired him to think of music as a medium of reconciliation. He gave his first solo performance with the Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra at the age of ten. Before enrolling at Julliard, he won numerous competitions including the New York Philharmonic Young Performer’s Concert. He has worked with a number of orchestras as a soloist, including the Julliard Pre-College Orchestra, the Hong Kong Pan Asia Philharmonic, the Massapequa Philharmonic, the KBS Symphony, and the Marrowstone Festival Orchestra.