The sacked leader of Hong Kong's flagship orchestra has turned to Macau for the top job in its mid-size orchestra.
Dennis Kim Jin-soo was fired as concertmaster of the Hong Kong Philharmonic in May after he auditioned for another orchestra job while on sick leave. He is travelling with the Macau Orchestra as its guest concertmaster in the group's most extensive tour since turning professional in 1995.
The 12-day tour has taken the 50-member ensemble to Wuxi , Nanjing , Hangzhou and Ningbo to perform works by Ravel, Britten, and Mendelssohn. The visits culminated in a performance last night at the Oriental Arts Centre in Shanghai.
According to orchestra sources, Kim, a Canadian-Korean, was named in August as the concertmaster of the Seoul Philharmonic, one of the oldest symphonic groups in Korea, by the internationally renowned Chung Myung-whun, the group's artistic adviser and permanent conductor.
Kim was not available for comment yesterday, and it is not known whether he would hold the two positions simultaneously, if he gets the Macau job.
Kim's sudden departure from the Hong Kong Philharmonic after five years leaves the orchestra without a top player until next season.