Is The Hansae Yes24 Foundation Right to Pivot Towards Classical Music?

Hansae Yes24 Foundation formally broadens its established cultural portfolio beyond literature and visual arts by integrating dedicated classical vocal music programming and international cross-border artistic collaborations

The Hansae Yes24 Foundation has officially announced that it will be expanding its cultural activities to include classical music, apart from its other operations such as fine arts and international literature. Through this initiative, the foundation will be led by Baek Soo-mi, who has a formal education in vocal performance. Rather than choosing the conventional large-scale symphonic performances, the Foundation has instead chosen to focus on the German art songs (Lied). The sole aim of this move is to fill the gap in the performing arts scene within South Korea and to further the main objectives of the Foundation.

The Foundation has structured its classical offerings in such a way that they are distinct as compared to other Foundation offerings. Instead, it highlights delicate, literature-driven vocal compositions that demand deep artistic interpretation.

• Focus on the Genre: Curating the German Lieder in a way that the complete classical song cycles are performed at local venues.

• Talent Flow: Working with not just the new talent singers, but also known singers like baritone Matthias Goerne, along with pianist Sunwoo Yekwon.

• Audience Engagement: Bridging complex poetic texts with musical performance to make classical art songs approachable for broad audiences.

The foundation's strategy for international development relies heavily on the integration of recently launched music programs with the already existing intercultural channels. It is now establishing official collaborations with well-known cultural institutions in Southeast Asia thanks to their extensive diplomatic and artistic experience gained from the cooperation that lasted more than a decade. Collaboration with organizations such as Asia Culture Center (ACC) and Seoul Foundation for Arts and Culture is the main tool in this context and allows their leaders to be certain that their classical lessons will not operate in isolation but in relation to the already existing projects concerning humanities exchange.

The foundation’s long-term goal revolves around developing an interconnected ecosystem that supports artists across multiple disciplines simultaneously.

"I hope the programs won't operate separately but connect so we can reach more artists and audiences. We will encompass literature, art, and music and expand our role as a platform for cultural and artistic exchange." - Baek Soo-mi, Chairwoman.

This structural approach ensures that creative support extends directly into artists' studios, education centers, and collaborative international residency programs.

By uniting literature, visual arts, and vocal performance under one roof, the organization aims to create a sustainable system of institutional philanthropy. Experts in the industry stress the importance of balanced distribution of resources amongst various areas of work to have long-lasting impact. The introduction of curated musical programming marks a clear maturation of the organization’s overall philanthropic footprint. As these multifaceted initiatives continue to take shape across domestic and international venues, CIO Bulletin views this development as a pivotal step toward building a unified, multi-disciplinary model for modern corporate philanthropy and global cultural exchange.