At least two classical concerts scheduled for later this month at Tongyeong Concert Hall have been canceled as a result of the highly transmissible omicron variant. However, the organizers of the Tongyeong International Music Festival, which will take place in March, have stated that the festival's flagship music gala will proceed as scheduled.

The New York Philharmonic String Quartet, which was scheduled to perform at Tongyeong Concert Hall on Sunday, has canceled their performance in the city, which was to have been the first of their three performances in Korea, as a result of quarantine restrictions that have forced them to cancel their itinerary. The quartet's other performances in Korea, on the other hand, will go as scheduled.

It was also announced that the concert by violinist Cho Jin-joo and Ensemble Appassionata on Feb. 26 at Tongyeong Concert Hall will be postponed after one of the ensemble's members was infected with COVID-19 before departing for Korea, according to the concert organizers.

The Tongyeong International Music Festival Foundation, which is gearing up for its annual music festival, planned the two concerts, which were broadcast live on the internet.

The organizers stated that they were actively watching the pandemic situation as well as any changes in social distancing measures in order to avoid having to postpone the music festival, which is celebrating its 20th anniversary this year, completely.

An official from TIMF stated that the festival would not be cancelled since we only opened up half of the seats to ensure that there was an empty seat between every audience member, which was the rule under the most stringent social distancing procedures. Concert halls do not now fall under the purview of any special social distancing laws or regulations.

Industry observers, on the other hand, are concerned since South Korea's health officials are on high alert because the country's daily new COVID-19 infections have increased dramatically, reaching a new high of over 57,000 cases on Tuesday.

Taking place in the southern seaside city of Tongyeong, South Gyeongsang Province, the musical festival will feature 26 performances from March 25 to April 3 under the theme "Vision in Diversity." The Tongyeong Festival Orchestra I, headed by Finnish conductor Dalia Stasevska, as well as the Novus Quartet, have already sold out their concerts during the festival.

While the annual music festival was forced to cancel in 2020 due to a unique coronavirus epidemic, the festival resumed the following year with strong antivirus and distancing measures in place to protect attendees.

The Tongyeong International Music Festival (TIMF) was established in 2002 to honor the late composer Yun I-sang, who was born in Sancheong, near Tongyeong, in 1917.