Yeol Eum Son is appointed an Apple Music Classical Artist Ambassador in Korea. She joins pianist Yunchan Lim who was previously announced.

Apple Music Classical, the standalone app designed specifically for classical music, is now available in Korea. Beginning today, Apple Music subscribers can download and enjoy the Apple Music Classical app as part of their existing subscription at no additional cost.

Apple Music Classical makes it quick and easy to find any recording in the world’s largest classical music catalog with fully optimized search, and listeners can enjoy the highest audio quality available and experience many classical favorites in a whole new way with immersive Spatial Audio. The combination of Apple Music Classical and Apple Music provides a complete music experience for everyone, from longtime classical fans to first-time listeners, and everyone in between.

Apple Music Classical is the ultimate classical experience, with hundreds of curated playlists, thousands of exclusive recordings, insightful composer biographies, deep-dive guides for many key works, intuitive browsing features, and much more.

Yeol Eum Son said:

“As a longtime record enthusiast and an avid Apple Music user since the iTunes days, I am very happy and excited to collaborate with Apple Music Classical. I believe Apple Music Classical will be a truly valuable platform that will play a great role in helping classical music to become relevant to all of us in the present day, not just the music from the previous eras.”

Read the full Apple Music Classical release:

Yunchan Lim, Seong-Jin Cho, and Yeol Eum Son appointed artist ambassadors

Lotte Concert Hall, Seoul Arts Center, Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra, and Tongyeong International Music Festival become partner organizations

Apple Music Classical, the standalone app designed specifically for classical music, is now available in Korea. Beginning today, Apple Music subscribers can download and enjoy the Apple Music Classical app as part of their existing subscription at no additional cost.

Apple Music Classical makes it quick and easy to find any recording in the world’s largest classical music catalog with fully optimized search, and listeners can enjoy the highest audio quality available and experience many classical favorites in a whole new way with immersive Spatial Audio. The combination of Apple Music Classical and Apple Music provides a complete music experience for everyone, from longtime classical fans to first-time listeners, and everyone in between.

Apple Music Classical is the ultimate classical experience, with hundreds of curated playlists, thousands of exclusive recordings, insightful composer biographies, deep-dive guides for many key works, intuitive browsing features, and much more.

Apple Music Classical offers:

  • The world’s largest classical music catalog with over 5 million tracks and works, from new releases to celebrated masterpieces.
  • The ability to search and browse by composer, work, conductor, instrument, periods, orchestra or choir, and find specific recordings instantly.
  • An interface designed for Classical Music with complete and accurate metadata to make sure users know exactly what work and which artist is playing.
  • The highest audio quality (up to 192 kHz/24 bit Hi-Res Lossless) with thousands of recordings in immersive Spatial Audio.
  • Thousands of exclusive recordings.
  • Thousands of editorial notes, including insightful composer biographies, descriptions of thousands of key works, and more.

“Everything we do comes down to our deep love for music,” said Oliver Schusser, global lead for Apple Music. “Classical is so foundational to music of all genres but until now there was no great streaming experience available for artists and fans. We believe Apple Music Classical solves that problem, with the largest classical music selection in the world, the very best search and browse capabilities, the best premium sound experience with Spatial Audio, thousands of exclusive recordings from the world’s most incredible artists and so much more. I’m so proud of this app and I am excited to make it available to even more listeners all around the world today.”

“Apple Music Classical directs me towards a hidden album that I didn’t know of in the vast world of music recordings, said Lim. ”I particularly enjoy the possibility of making playlists by choosing album covers and tracklists as if they were my own albums! This is my favourite hobby and a source of happiness for me. This is possible thanks to Apple Music Classical’s best sound quality in the world and their enormous music library. Indeed, when I hear music I want to feel the things I have never experienced in my life. Through music you can imagine the wind on the top of a mountain, hear the sound of flowers blooming, you can take a walk with a beautiful person, and – the most important – you can dream! Music trespasses boundaries and connects people. Indeed, when Music speaks, everyone understands. This is the message I like to share through my music – and this is possible thanks to Apple Music Classical. I’m incredibly proud to collaborate with Apple Music Classical worldwide and to share my musical dreams.”

Apple is working closely with some of the most prolific classical music artists and renowned classical music institutions in the world to offer Apple Music Classical listeners new, unique, and exclusive content and recordings at launch and beyond.

Pianists Yunchan Lim, Seong-Jin Cho, and Yeol Eum Son join Lang Lang, and Hilary Hahn, among others, as artist ambassadors for Apple Music Classical.

Lotte Concert Hall, Seoul Arts Center, Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra, and Tongyeong International Music Festival become partner organizations, joining a list of the leading international venues and orchestras that includes the Berlin Philharmonic, Carnegie Hall, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, the London Symphony Orchestra, the Metropolitan Opera, the New York Philharmonic, Opéra national de Paris, the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, the San Francisco Symphony, and the Vienna Philharmonic.

Exclusive content from the ambassador artists and partner organizations will be continually made available on the app, alongside exclusive curated playlists from Lim, Cho, Jung Jae-il, and Son, and classical sessions with the Esmé Quartet and Son.

“Streaming opens the door to all music fans and presents one of the greatest opportunities for discovery and inspiration in our world of classical music,” said Cho. “I am delighted that Apple Music is taking this initiative with Apple Music Classical, now connecting audiences across the globe as they launch in Asia. This is an exciting time as the app give artists a greater platform to reach music lovers, wherever they are in the world.”

“As a longtime record enthusiast and an avid Apple Music user since the iTunes days, I am very happy and excited to collaborate with Apple Music Classical,” said Son. “I believe Apple Music Classical will be a truly valuable platform that will play a great role in helping classical music to become relevant to all of us in the present day, not just the music from the previous eras.”

Apple Music Classical listeners will also enjoy brand-new exclusive artwork, including a series of unique, high-resolution digital portraits for many of the world’s greatest composers, such as Nan-pa Hong, and Isang Yun. Specially commissioned from a diverse group of artists, each image blends historical research with color palettes and artistic references from the relevant classical period. The results display an astonishing attention to detail, bringing listeners face to face with leading classical figures like never before.

Cellist Yo-Yo Ma commented: “Apple Music Classical is your wormhole to get you to travel through time and geography to primary sources of what people were actually listening to, way before recorded music. And there’s nothing more important today, I feel, than for people to have access to primary sources. Music, classical music is not just about sounds and European music, it’s about ideas and the ideas that came from that music, that propelled that music, were the very ideas that propelled us to invent — in science, in nation building, in economics. And so to have a primary source gets us to the very moment of invention, of successful invention. We are living in a very complex time period where we need to have hope, legitimate hope so that we can renew ourselves and get to a future we can believe in. So, let’s celebrate.”

Availability

  • Apple Music Classical is now available for download in the app store, https://apps.apple.com/app/id1598433714
  • The app requires an Apple Music subscription (Individual, Family, or Apple One).
  • Apple Music Classical is available for all iPhone and iPad models running iOS 15.4 or later, and for Android.
  • To listen to music on Apple Music Classical, users must have an internet connection.