Orchestral Arrangements of K-Pop Classics Tug at Heartstrings

【Financial News, Hanoi, Vietnam = Correspondent Kim Jun-seok】 “Hearing orchestral arrangements of classic hits by SM Entertainment artists I usually enjoy listening to made the experience even more moving. In particular, when I heard Jonghyun’s ‘End of a Day,’ I was so moved that I cried.”
Trang, an office worker in her 20s who attended the ‘SM Classics Live in Hanoi’ concert held at Ho Guom Opera House in Hanoi, Vietnam, on the 5th, said this. 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 engage local audiences by reimagining K-pop classics with orchestral arrangements.
The concert, featuring conductor Kim Yu-won, concertmaster Yoon Yeom-gwang and the Vietnam National Symphony Orchestra (VNSO), presented hit K-pop songs by Red Velvet, NCT, SHINee, Aespa, EXO, Girls’ Generation and Super Junior over two hours and 30 minutes. Super Junior’s Ryeowook and violinist Jung Hyun-jun also took the stage.
The opening number, Red Velvet’s ‘Feel My Rhythm,’ incorporated Bach’s ‘Air on the G String,’ adding variations that ranged from tango to swing jazz. EXO’s ‘Growl’ was reimagined with a fresh atmosphere using a motif from Beethoven’s ‘Fate’ Symphony. Debussy’s ‘Clair de Lune’ was woven into Jonghyun’s ‘End of a Day,’ preserving the warmth of the original. Elgar’s ‘Pomp and Circumstance March’ rang out in Girls’ Generation’s ‘Into the New World,’ adding an overwhelming sense of joy.
Throughout the concert, audience members cheered to familiar K-pop melodies and dabbed away tears. When the final encore—a medley combining the Vietnamese folk song ‘Bèo dạt mây trôi’ with ‘Arirang’—was performed, loud cheers erupted from the audience. Tu, an office worker in their 20s, said, “I almost found myself singing along without realizing it,” adding, “I was deeply moved by the orchestral arrangements, which felt both familiar and new.”
Kim Young-sang, an exclusive composer and arranger for SM Classics, said, “Our top priority was to preserve the identity of the original songs,” adding, “Drawing on the narrative structure of classical music, we explored the various musical possibilities that could unfold within a single piece.”
SM Classics plans to arrange more songs by SM artists as classical music and present them in the future. “Our role is to add a little breathing room and space to K-pop, and to naturally connect the rests of classical music with K-pop’s exclamation marks,” said SM Classics CEO Jo Kyung-hee, emphasizing, “We will continue to pursue musical experiments that cross genres.”