If you want to deeply experience a different side of Seoul—away from the historical centers like Gwanghwamun and Namsan—or if you are looking for a place close to the trendy vibes of Gangnam and Seongsu, Jamsil is the perfect hidden gem to explore. Located at Jamsil Station (Lines 2 and 8), this hub brings together the Lotte World amusement park(Lotte World Seoul Local Guide: How to Buy Tickets & Skip the Lines), an indoor ice rink, an aquarium, Lotte Hotel, and the massive Lotte World Tower complex, which includes a shopping mall and department store for the ultimate shopping experience
On the 8th floor of Lotte World Tower, you will find the Lotte Concert Hall. When it comes to enjoying classical music in Seoul, people traditionally used to think of the Seoul Arts Center or the Sejong Center for the Performing Arts. Recently, however, the Lotte Concert Hall in Jamsil and the LG Arts Center in Gangseo-gu have also become major cultural landmarks.
Attending a classical concert inside a skyscraper in the center of Seoul is a unique way to see how Koreans enjoy classical music. If you want to experience the local vibe, it will be a wonderful cultural escape from the usual tourist routines. Furthermore, world-renowned Korean classical artists like Chopin Piano Competition winner Seong-Jin Cho and Van Cliburn International Piano Competition’s youngest-ever winner Yunchan Lim sometimes perform here. If your timing is right, it could be an incredible opportunity.
Lotte Concert Hall
- Address: 8F Lotte World Mall, 300 Olympic-ro, Songpa-gu, Seoul
- Operating Hours: 10:30 – 22:00
- Official Website | Ticket
- Maps: Google Maps | Naver Map (Highly recommended for navigation in Korea)
Lotte Concert Hall is the first venue in Korea to feature a ‘Vineyard-style’ seating arrangement. The seats surround the stage in a 360-degree layout, bringing the audience and performers closer together. As a dedicated classical music hall, it features a massive pipe organ directly behind the center of the stage, boasting over 5,000 pipes and 68 stops (timbre control devices).
A unique architectural feature is its location inside a skyscraper and multi-complex shopping mall; the hall utilizes a ‘box-in-box’ construction technique, completely separating the entire performance space from the outer structure to flawlessly block out external noise and vibrations.
A First-Time Visitor’s Review
Whenever I visited Lotte World Tower for shopping, movies, or dining, I would always see the arrows pointing toward the Lotte Concert Hall, but this was my first time actually attending a classical concert here. It had also been quite a while since I last listened to classical music live.
I intentionally arrived well ahead of the performance time. Before the crowds gathered, I printed my ticket at the kiosk (you can also pick them up directly at the box office desk) and headed back down to the Lotte World Mall. After grabbing a light bite and looking around the dining areas on the 5th and 6th floors, I headed back up 30 minutes before the show, just as the hall doors opened.
Tip : Because Lotte World Mall is massive, finding the concert hall can be a bit challenging. It is much easier if you look for the signs for the ‘Lotte Concert Hall Exclusive Elevator‘ which takes you directly to the 8th floor from the basement or the 1st-floor lobby.
Personally, I carved out time for this specific concert because I really wanted to hear Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 2 live. I sat in Row 3 of the 1st floor RP section (the area behind the stage looking down closely at the performers), and I was thoroughly satisfied. While I plan to experience other seating sections in the future, it was a flawless choice for my first visit. In fact, I have already booked tickets for a symphony orchestra performance of Sibelius this coming September.
Safe travels, Soy Kim
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