Conductor Kim Yu-won leads the orchestra at SM Classics Live in Hanoi, held at the Ho Guom Opera House in Hanoi, Vietnam, on the 5th. Photo courtesy of the Korean Cultural Center in Vietnam [Hanoi, Vietnam—Correspondent Kim Jun-seok]
“Hearing the hit songs by SM Entertainment artists I’ve always enjoyed listening to, now performed with orchestral melodies, made the experience even more moving. I especially felt a lump in my throat and tears came to my eyes when I heard Jonghyun’s ‘End of a Day.’”At the SM Classics Live in Hanoi concert, held at the Ho Guom Opera House in Hanoi, Vietnam, on the 5th, Trang, a 20-something office worker in the audience, responded this way when asked what she thought of the performance.
Presented as part of the 2026 Korea Season, hosted by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and co-organized by the Korea Foundation for International Cultural Exchange and the Korean Cultural Center in Vietnam, the concert saw SM Classics reimagine familiar SM hits and build a deep connection with Vietnamese audiences.
At the concert, conductor Kim Yu-won, concertmaster Yoon Yeom-gwang and the Vietnam National Symphony Orchestra (VNSO) joined forces to present some of K-pop’s signature hits in grand orchestral arrangements for two and a half hours. The program featured songs by Red Velvet, NCT, SHINee, aespa, EXO, Girls’ Generation and Super Junior, among others. Super Junior’s Ryeowook and rising violinist Jung Hyun-jun also took part, adding depth to the performance.
Super Junior member Ryeowook performs numbers including “The Little Prince” with the Vietnam National Symphony Orchestra at SM Classics Live in Hanoi, held at the Ho Guom Opera House in Hanoi, Vietnam, on the 5th. Photo courtesy of the Korean Cultural Center in Vietnam The performance showcased the best of the K-pop-classical crossover, captivating local audiences. Red Velvet’s “Feel My Rhythm” incorporated Johann Sebastian Bach’s “Air on the G String,” offering dramatic variations that moved between tango and swing jazz. EXO’s “Growl” tightly wove the powerful motif of Ludwig van Beethoven’s “Fate” Symphony into a waltz rhythm, delivering a fresh jolt. “MAMA” also heightened the grandeur and tension with a passionate violin solo.
SHINee’s Jonghyun’s posthumous work “End of a Day” incorporated Claude Debussy’s “Clair de Lune,” amplifying the warmth of the original song. In Girls’ Generation’s “Into the New World,” Edward Elgar’s “Pomp and Circumstance March” rang out, adding an exhilarating sense of joy. The first encore, BoA’s “My Name,” was reborn with an explosive orchestral sound by combining the main themes of Frédéric François Chopin’s études “Winter Wind” and “Revolutionary,” bringing the concert’s energy to a peak.
Violinist Jung Hyun-jun performs Niccolò Paganini’s Caprice No. 24 for solo violin at SM Classics Live in Hanoi, held at the Ho Guom Opera House in Hanoi, Vietnam, on the 5th. Photo courtesy of the Korean Cultural Center in Vietnam The auditorium was packed with Vietnamese audience members cheering to familiar K-pop melodies and swaying to the rhythm. The response was enthusiastic, with people in various parts of the hall wiping away tears as beautiful ballad arrangements filled the space. Thunderous applause and cheers rang out after every song. In particular, when the final encore linked the famous Vietnamese folk song “Bèo dạt mây trôi” (“Duckweed drifts and clouds float by”) with “Arirang,” the audience erupted in cheers and gasps of excitement.
The passionate support from Super Junior fans was especially noticeable. Wearing matching T-shirts in “Pearl Sapphire Blue,” the official color of the Super Junior fan club, they cheered Ryeowook enthusiastically onstage. Thu, an office worker in their 20s, said, “I almost found myself singing along,” adding, “I was deeply moved by the orchestral melodies, which felt both familiar and new.”
SM Classics CEO Cho Hee-kyung (far right) and Kim Young-sang, an in-house composer and arranger for SM Classics (second from left), pose for a commemorative photo after a talk concert held at the Korean Cultural Center in Vietnam on the 2nd, ahead of SM Classics Live in Hanoi. Photo courtesy of the Korean Cultural Center in Vietnam Kim Young-sang, an in-house composer and arranger for SM Classics, said of the process of arranging the classical versions, “Our top priority was to preserve the identity of the original song,” and “Drawing on the narrative structure of classical music, we explored the various musical possibilities that could unfold within a single piece.” He added, “Because the emotions and sensations audiences experience vary depending on how organically these elements are connected, we focused on thoughtful transitions and ideas for the arrangements.”
SM Classics plans to continue its diverse musical experiments connecting K-pop and classical music. SM Classics CEO Cho Kyung-hee emphasized, “SM Classics’ role is to add a little breathing room and space to K-pop, and to naturally connect the pauses of classical music with K-pop’s exclamation marks.”
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