The lovely tune of “Time to Say Goodbye” resonates inside the lobby of Dobong District Office in Seoul. The spacious lobby has been the venue for small concerts every Tuesday noon. Most of the musicians performing for the concerts here are not professionals, but their love for music is just as passionate and enduring as their more skillful counterparts. They are grateful that they have this chance to perform on stage for so many people.

This hospital lobby doubles as a concert stage every week. This week a soprano sings “You Raise Me Up” accompanied by the ocarina. The piano lounge on the first floor of Konkuk University Hospital is filled with patients and their families, who gather to enjoy the performances of an amateur band composed of nurses and therapists, as well as those of professional musicians. When the weather turns nice and warm like in recent weeks, lunchtime concerts are held in many places around Seoul to give its people culturally enriching and emotionally relaxing experiences. Rather than in enclosed and dimmed theaters, the concerts take place in open areas with plenty of sunshine and warm breeze.

The midday concert boom was first sparked by the noontime cultural performances sponsored by Chungdong Theater. The midday concert started at the same time when the theater opened. Here’s Ms. Lee Song of Chungdong Theater.

The theater opened 16 years ago in 1995. The midday concerts began that fall. At first the concerts were held for four weeks during spring and fall, but the theater had to limit the performances only to the spring season. The midday concerts were originally intended to give the city people a chance to appreciate arts in a natural outdoor setting.

Chungdong Theater is located right in the middle of historic Jeongdong Avenue. The two-lane street is lined with such old and architecturally important buildings as Ewha School, Pai Chai School, the Russian Legation at Seoul, and Chungdong First Methodist Church. At the end of the road are the famed stone walls of Deoksu Palace. The whole neighborhood has long been known as a pocket of serenity and a great place for a stroll in the busy city of Seoul. Chungdong Theater’s concerts have added another layer of class and culture to the area. This year’s noon concert series began on May 22 and this year’s theme is “An Outing of Young Artists.”

Since Chungdong Theater is the restored version of Wongaksa, Korea’s first modern theater, most of the performances for the noontime concerts are traditional in nature. But don’t mistake tradition for boring. These concerts of traditional music are way more dynamic and enjoyable than people think. Here’s Chungdong Theater’s Lee Song to explain more about it.

Last year we invited outside artists for the concerts, but this year our young resident musicians and performers are leading the program. For the first two days they put on traditional music concerts, and yesterday they staged an all-out performing arts production. Today’s theme is percussion music. Our performers are going to showcase a traditional folk music band and an original drum performance.

The vibrating sound of big drums echoes through the open plaza and the hearts of the lunchtime crowd who came to see the concert. Since the concert take place in the middle of lunchtime and at an open space, both performers and the audience enjoy a more relaxing atmosphere and a closer rapport. Here’s Mr. Moon Soon-jo of the Chungdong Theater performance team.

We performers sorely need an audience, but today’s working people are so busy that they hardly have any time to enjoy cultural performances. This midday concert is a great opportunity for people to see a good performance while enjoying lunch. It’s an unexpected pleasure for busy city dwellers. Office workers who are tied down to their desks all day long seem to enjoy these concerts the most, because they can forget about their work, even if for a little while.

Loud cheers and applause greet Chungdong Theater’s Korean traditional band. The merry and heart-thumping production seems to blow away all the stress and worries of the audience.

- I came here during lunch with my co-workers. It energizes me to see the performance while enjoying a cup of coffee. It’s a really relaxing time for me.
- It was really exciting and fun, even though I got to enjoy it for only a little while.
- I was just passing by when I heard the sound of the drums and the crowd cheering. The audience response was great and I’m glad that I got a chance to see such a nice performance.
- It’s a change of pace for me to relax like this. Now I’m ready to tackle more work.

The performance lasts for only 30 minutes, from twelve-twenty to twelve-fifty. It seems rather short, but it is enough to recharge you for the afternoon.

While Chungdong Theater’s noontime performance takes place in a rather peaceful corner of Seoul, another lunchtime entertainment program captures people’s attention with its central city location, at Sejongno Park in Gwanghwamun.

Sejongno Park is an urban green space measuring nearly 8,900 square meters. Located next to Sejong Performing Arts Center, the park was renovated as a cultural and historical park last year. It has 6,000 trees and 8,000 wildflowers, as well as a 3,200-square-meter plaza where the Midday Happy Concert is held. Here’s Mr. Yoo Won-hee of the Seoul municipal government to explain more.

Sejongno Park is located in Gwanghwamun but not many people know about it. The park was remodeled last year and now features a café and an outdoor stage. The park is open to anyone wishing to enjoy or put on cultural performances.

The Sejongno Park concerts differ from other midday concerts in the cast of performers. They are talented artists selected by the city’s culture and art promotion program.

There are so many parks in Seoul that we cannot invite famed performers for all those parks. So for the past three years we have been holding auditions to find new musicians to perform in various parks. This year 18 teams take turns to put on dance, traditional music, classical music, and chorus performances. They are mostly young and have repertoires fit for outdoor performance.

Just because they are young and not famous, don’t mistake them for amateurs. They are extremely talented. The B-boy team here is the reigning champion of the national break dance competition, the samulnori team won an award at the prestigious Jeonju Daesaseup Festival, and the Pyongyang Arts Company is made up of former North Korean artists. The Sejongno Park midday concert program gives these artists a chance to showcase their talents and the public to enjoy quality entertainment. Here’s Ms. Yang Ji-hyun, the director of Hyun Dance Company, to talk about being a part of the city government’s cultural program.

We like to think that we are doing some good for the community. Some people donate their talents, like singing and drawing, to help out the less fortunate. In the same sense, we dancers show our dancing skills to make people happy. Young artists in Korea don’t get that many opportunities to perform, but this city-sponsored program is really great in that it gives us a chance to show our talents. We are grateful to have this opportunity and proud to showcase Korean dance to the public.

Today the dancers present fan dance. With gray buildings held at bay by green trees and colorful flowers, the beautiful dance performance lifts the spirit of everyone in the audience.

- This is a great program. I cherish my lunchtime away from the office, and seeing such a performance energizes me for afternoon work. I wish there were more programs like this.
- I was looking for a place to eat my sandwich for lunch today, and found this park. I wasn’t expecting anything special, but seeing this performance while having lunch made me feel better. It can get pretty dreary with all the modern buildings in Seoul, but having such a cultural experience during lunch could cheer me up for the rest of the day.

This program also lasts only 30 minutes, but people who find the performances refreshing and enriching make those 30 minutes well worth its while. Here’s Hyun Dance Company’s Yang Ji-hyun again.

It’s harder for us to perform outdoors, because of the wind. Our costumes and hair get blown and tangled in the wind, but communicating with the audience is undeniably an exciting and wonderful experience. Before we began the performance, we were just wishing for people to not get bored. But we just saw how much they liked it and even foreign visitors wanted to take pictures with us. We promised ourselves that we are going to put on even better productions.

The National Theater of Korea has also been hosting brunch concerts every spring since 2009. This year’s Midday Concert series has been underway since March.

The brunch concerts of the National Theater of Korea are marked by the exceptional artistic calibers of their casts. The members of the National Orchestra of Korea, the National Changgeuk Company of Korea, and the National Dance Company of Korea work together with pop musicians to provide high quality cultural productions. This year’s concert series includes Korean traditional music and dance, so visitors can enjoy Korea’s sounds and sights until fall.

These various midday concerts provide short yet much needed rest and relaxation for today’s active and stressed-out Koreans. It’s therefore no surprise that lunchtime concerts are growing more popular and becoming a cultural fixture in Seoul.