a Belgian Rendez-vous with Thierry Loreau, Musical Documentary Director

Thierry Loreau, musical documentary director, will be in Seoul to shoot parts of his second film on the excellence of Korean classical musicians and their impressive rankings in international competitions.  At this occasion, BKBF in collaboration with Yoon Barbé from Jejoo Studio is pleased to organize a casual meet-up with Thierry Loreau on Thursday October 24 at 8pm where he will introduce his project.  For this occasion, Françoise Lewalle has kindly offered to put her living room at disposal.  As the maximum capacity is 30 people.  Please RSVP using the register button above and note the venue address in the details section.  Feel free to bring some drinks.

We look forward to seeing you.

Biography :
Thierry Loreau graduated from the University of Brussels, Belgium with a M.D., Musicology.  He has won three First Prizes at the Royal Conservatories of Brussels and Mons.  Thierry started his career as a music adviser and co-director at the RTBF, the French speaking Belgium Television where he soon specialized in concerts and opera broadcasting.  Since 1996, Thierry coauthored with Pierre Barré more than 50 musical documentaries, from the journeys behind the scenes of opera productions and portraits of great classical or jazz musicians such as Toots Thielemans; to a film about the extraordinary success of Korean classical musicians; and films featuring well-known Belgian musicians, all of whom have participated in the Jeunes Solistes.

Project :
Since about fifteen years, South Korea is more and more active in the field of Western classical music.  Just a look at the archives of the Queen Elisabeth Competition of Belgium is enough to realize it.  In 2010, 29% of the candidates came from Korea and 5 of them were in the final.  Many questions arise. First, what is the reason for this enthusiasm for a music so different from Korean musical traditions?  How do young Koreans learn this music?  And how quickly do they become excellent in their discipline?  In 2011, Thierry decided to understand this mystery.  With his team, he went to Seoul with his team and made a movie which gave answers to all the unanswered questions: “The Korean Musical Mystery.”  It was a quick success around the world. It has been screened at least 10 times in cinemas and on television in Belgium and many international festivals have selected it, among others Jecheon JIMFF (South Korea), EPOS (Tel Aviv), FIFA (Montreal), FIPA (Biarritz), Estivales du Medoc (Bordeaux), ISELP (Brussels), Busoni Competition (Bolzano), etc…

Seven years after the first movie, Korean musicians continue to win almost all the most important competitions.  In 2013 and 2014, Korean musicians ranked first in 9 international competitions.  Since 1998, there were 645 Korean musicians in the final and 108 first prizes.  To continue to explore this mystery, Thierry has decided to develop a second movie.  He wants to go behind the musician; behind the technician, and get to know their personality, what is deep in their heart and soul to play with such sensitivity and expressiveness. The second film will focus more on the professional and social life of 4 artists who have recently won major international competitions, including the Queen Elisabeth Competition.