33 Keys to Decoding Korean Wave, Hallyu! #25 K-Classic -The Korean Musical Mystery 

#25 From Kyung-wha Chung to Yunchan Lim...

KOREA, a classical music competition powerhouse

*한류를 이해하는 33가지 코드 #25 K-클래식: 정경화에서 임윤찬까지 클래식 강국 <Korean version>

https://www.nyculturebeat.com/index.php?mid=Focus&document_srl=4085753

GOLD MEDALIST Yunchan Lim(18), SILVER MEDALIST Anna Geniushene(31), BRONZE MEDALIST Dmytro Choni(28). Photo: The Cliburn

-Piano competition winners: Tong Il Han (Leventritt Competition,1965), MyungHee Chung (William Kapell Competition, 1977), Youngshin An (Cleveland Competition, 1983), Daejin Kim (Cleveland Competition, 1985) , Hae-Sun Paik (William Kapell Competition, 1989), Sunwook Kim (Leeds Competition, 2006), Seong-Jin Cho (Chopin Competition, 2015), Chloe Jiyeong Mun (Geneva Competition, 2014 & Busoni Competition,  2015), Yekwon Sunwoo (William Kapell Competition, 2012 & Van Cliburn Competition, 2017), Jaehong Park (Busoni Competition, 2021), Yunchan Lim (Van Cliburn Competition, 2022)

-Violin competition winners: Young-Uck Kim (Merriweather Post Competition, 1965), Kyung-wha Chung (Leventritt Competition, 1967), Dong-Suk Kang (Merriweather Post Competition, 1971), Lim Ji-young (Queen Elisabeth Competition, 2015), Soovin Kim (Paganini Competition, 1996), Inmo Yang (Paganini Competition, 2015 & Sibelius Competition, 2022)

-Cello competition winners: Myung-wha Chung (Geneva Competition, 1971), Han-Na Chang (Rostropovich Competition, 1994), Hayoung Choi (Queen Elisabeth Competition, 2022)

-Percussion competition winner: Hyeji Bak (Geneva Competition, 2019)

-Vocal competition winners: Tchaikovsky Competition:  Hyunsoo Choi (1990), Jongmin Park (2011), Sunyoung Seo (2011).  Queen Elisabeth Competition: Haeran Hong (2011), Sumi Hwang (2014), Taehan Kim (2023).

-Composition competition winners: Queen Elisabeth Competition:  Eun-Hwa Cho (2009), Minjae Jeon (2010). Geneva Competition:  Kwang Ho Cho (2013), Jaehyuck Choi (2017)

#'The Korean Musical Mystery'

The Korean Musical Mystery(2012) by Thierry Loreau

“For the past 15 years, South Korea has been increasingly present in the field of Western classical music. The Queen Elisabeth Competition in Belgium is a good example. In 1995, there was not a single Korean candidate in the first round. In 2011, there were 22, and for the first time that year, a Korean singer won the prestigious competition. The same trend can be seen in all 55 big international music competitions. Never before, throughout the history of music, has such an artistic phenomenon been observed.

What is going on in this country? Why is the sudden infatuation with music so different from that of Far Eastern culture? This film intends to answer these and many other questions by going to the heart of Korean society.”

-The Korean Musical Mystery (2012) by Thierry Loreau-

Belgian film director Thierry Loreau explored the secrets of Korean classical musicians’ success in the 2012 documentary, “The Korean Musical Mystery.”  Loreau is an oboist and holds a master’s degree in musicology from the University of Brussels. Since 1983, he has been making documentaries about classical music.

The documentary delves into the Queen Elisabeth Competition in Belgium, recognized as one of the world's top three music competitions alongside the Tchaikovsky Competition (Russia) and the Chopin Competition (Poland). It explores the reasons why Koreans excel in the competition, citing factors such as early gifted education, the education systems of the Korea National University of Arts (KARTS) and Seoul National University College of Music, rigorous practice and training, a competitive spirit, passion, oral structure, a natural affinity for singing, parental support, and stress relief methods.

The percentage of Koreans (yellow line) who advanced to the first round of the Queen Elisabeth Competition in Belgium is 1/4, which is overwhelming compared to the Americans and Russians.

The Korean Musical Mystery(2012) by Thierry Loreau

Seven years later, in 2019, Thierry Loreau again paid attention to the fact that Koreans are winning almost all major competitions. In 2013 and 2014, Korean musicians won nine international competitions, and since 1998, 645 musicians have made it to the finals and won 108 first prizes. Korean winners of major competitions such as the Chopin, Leeds, Queen Elisabeth, Busoni, Van Cliburn, and Geneva Competition emerged one after another.

In 2020, Thierry Loreau directed “K-Classic Generation” (2020). The documentary film begins with the explanation that: “Over the past 20 years, 700 Koreans have advanced to the finals of international music competitions, and 110 have won.” The film explains why Koreans continue to win international competitions using keywords: freedom, role models, gifted education and sacrifice.

#Pianist Myung-whun Chung Gets Homecoming Car Parade in 1974

Daehan News No. 992 - This glory to my homeland <YouTube>

“Korea’s world-renowned pianist Myung-whun Chung has returned to Korea. Citizens warmly welcomed this young musician, who returned after confirming his status as a world leader by winning second place in the piano section of the 5th Tchaikovsky Music Festival held in Moscow in early July. A young musician returning to his homeland. This honor has once again reminded our people of the infinite possibilities that ‘you can do it.’”

-Daehan News No. 992 “This glory to my homeland”-

In 1974, when pianist Myung-whun Chung, now better known as a conductor, won joint second place at the Tchaikovsky Competition, a car parade was held in Seoul, and President Park Chung-hee awarded him a medal.

Today, the “Classic Korean Wave (K-Classic)” is shaking up the music world. Young musicians have won trophies one after another at major competitions around the world. The Korean “Milky Way” is shining in the classical world, once dominated by Russian and Japanese performers.

The music world is looking at Korea’s emergence as a classical powerhouse with amazement. Korean classical musicians began to show off their skills on the international stage in the 1960s. One of the first performers was Han Dong-il, a piano prodigy in 1965. Afterwards, first-generation musicians such as Kim Young-wook, Kyung-wha Chung, Myung-wha Chung, and Kang Dong-seok were active on the international stage. In the 1980s, violin prodigy Sarah Chang appeared, and in the 1990s, cellist Han-Na Chang debuted. Around this time, pianists Daejin Kim and Hae-Sun Paik, baritone Hyunsoo Choi, and cellist Young-Chang Cho were leading figures of the second generation who were making a name for themselves by winning major competitions. Since the 2000s, the third generation, starting with pianist Sunwook Kim, Seong-Jin Cho, Chloe Jiyeong Mun, Yekwon Sunwoo, Yunchan Lim, and vocalists Jongmin Park, Sunyoung Seo, Haeran Hong, and Sumi Hwang, have won major competitions, continuing the wave of K-classics.

#Sarah Chang, a violin prodigy who didn’t need a competition

After Child's Play, What Comes Next? Oct. 3, 1993, The New York Times/ “Violinist Sarah Chang’s Beautiful Run” by Minsoo Chang (2007)

Violin prodigy Sarah Chang (Chang Youngjoo, 1980– ) didn’t need the platform of competitions, which are often the gateway for discovering new talent. Born in Philadelphia to violinist Minsoo Chang and composer Myeongjoon Lee, Chang was a musical force from a young age. At five, she auditioned for the Juilliard School by performing Bruch’s Violin Concerto, and she studied with renowned professors such as Isaac Stern, Dorothy DeLay, and Hyo Kang. By the age of eight, she was performing with the New York Philharmonic under Zubin Mehta and the Philadelphia Orchestra with Riccardo Muti. At ten, she released her debut album, Her Debut, on EMI, cementing her status as a legend in the classical music world.

Sarah Chang, major albums released by EMI since ‘Debut’ (1991).

In Violinist Sarah Chang’s Beautiful Run (2007), her father, Professor Minsoo Chang of Temple University, reflected on her unique path: “Youngjoo [Sarah’s Korean name] has never participated in a competition. Auditions are more important than competitions. Competitions help digest a variety of repertoire and overcome stage fright, but they’re just an opportunity,” he wrote, advising not to be overly focused on competition results.

In April 2008, while working at The Korea Daily in New York (JoongAng Ilbo), I interviewed 29-year-old Sarah Chang ahead of her performance of Vivaldi’s Four Seasons at Carnegie Hall. Chang, who had spent her childhood traveling the world to perform, shared insights into her unconventional life. “I have more concert dresses and cocktail dresses than jeans! I don’t have many opportunities to wear jeans, but I do have a few pairs of Diesel and Seven jeans,” she laughed. Despite her demanding schedule, she revealed her pop music preferences, mentioning Beyoncé, Lady Gaga, and Christina Aguilera as artists she enjoyed listening to on her iPod.

*사라 장 인터뷰(Sarah Chang Interview) : 바이올린 신동에서 거장으로

#Korean musicians in the Orchestra, New York and Philadelphia 

New York Philharmonic Photo: Chris Lee

The New York Philharmonic (founded in 1842) and the Philadelphia Orchestra (1900) are regarded as two of America’s ‘Big Five’ orchestras, along with the Boston Symphony Orchestra (1881), the Chicago Symphony Orchestra (1891), and the Cleveland Orchestra (1918). Among them, Korean performers make up a significant percentage of musicians  in American symphony orchestras, such as the New York Philharmonic and the Philadelphia Orchestra.

The New York Philharmonic includes assistant concertmaster Michelle Kim, and violinists Lisa Eunsoo Kim, Hae-Young Ham, Soohyun Kwon, and Lisa GiHae Kim, and also Hyunju Lee, Hannah Choi, Jun Suk Yu, Su Hyun Park, Lydia Hong, Dasol Jeong, Kyung Ji Min, Patrick Jee in the cello section, and Yoobin Son in the flute section.

Violinist Myung-Hi Kim was the first Asian and eighth female member of the New York Philharmonic, having joined the group in 1977, and retired after 32 years in 2010. Michelle Kim, assistant concertmaster, shared this about her most memorable concert in a 2010 interview with me for The Korea Daily of New York.

She said, “The performances in Pyongyang and Seoul are the most memorable. It felt like watching black and white and color television. During the concert in North Korea, tears flowed endlessly, and when I performed in South Korea, I was filled with mixed feelings of regret and nostalgia. “I am proud of our work as a Korean, as a member of the New York Philharmonic, and as a music ambassador who helps promote international exchange through music.”

https://nyphil.org      

*뉴욕필하모닉의 한인 뮤즈들, 2010

Philadelphia Orchestra

The Philadelphia Orchestra, which frequently hosts season-opening concerts at Carnegie Hall, showcases Korean musicians in pivotal roles, including concertmaster David Kim, first associate concertmaster Juliette Kang, and associate concertmaster Christine Lim. Moreover, Choong-Jin Chang holds the position of principal viola, with Marvin Moon and Anna Marie Ahn Petersen on viola, Daniel Han on violin, and Jeoung-Yin Kim on violin.

https://www.philorch.org

*필라오케스트라: 데이빗 김 악장과 한인 5인방

#Composer Unsuk Chin & Conductor Eun Sun Kim

Composer Unsuk Chin (left)/ Conductor Eun Sun Kim (Photo: Marty Sohl/The Metropolitan Opera)

Korean composers and conductors have also achieved world stardom in the classical music world.

Unsuk Chin (1961-), currently residing in Berlin, has followed in the footsteps of Isang Yun (1917-1995) and has been active with her wide spectrum of compositions. After graduating from Seoul National University’s Department of Composition, Chin moved to Hamburg and studied with György Ligeti. In 2004, she won the Grawemeyer Prize, known as the “Nobel Prize in Music,” for her Violin Concerto No. 1. She received further recognition with the Royal Philharmonic Society Music Award (2017) and the New York Philharmonic Marie-Josée Kravis Prize (2018). She composed the opera “Alice in Wonderland” with a libretto by playwright David Henry Hwang, which premiered at the Bavarian State Opera in Munich in 2007.

In May 2008, she gave the American premiere of her orchestral piece “Rocana, Room of Light” at Carnegie Hall with the Montreal Symphony, conducted by Kent Nagano. In October 2019, the New York Philharmonic premiered her sheng huang (*Chinese mouth organ) concerto, “Šu Concerto for Sheng and Orchestra.” In March 2022, her Violin Concerto No. 2 “Scheben der Stille” premiered with Leonidas Kavakos and the Boston Symphony Orchestra at Carnegie Hall. Unsuk Chin has been serving as the music director of the Tongyeong International Music Festival in memory of Isang Yun since 2022.

Unsuk Chin won the esteemed 2024 Ernst von Siemens Music Prize, jointly orchestrated by the venerable German Ernst von Siemens Foundation and the illustrious Bavarian Academy of Fine Arts, annually anoints a singular individual whose virtuosity resonates in the realms of classical music composition, performance, or musicology. The radiance of this honor has graced the likes of Chin's mentor, the visionary György Ligeti, alongside luminaries such as composer Benjamin Britten, conductors Herbert von Karajan, Claudio Abbado, Daniel Barenboim, and virtuosic violinists Gidon Kremer, Yehudi Menuhin, and Anne-Sophie Mutter. Notably, Ms. Chin stands as the inaugural Asian recipient of this coveted award, etching her name into the annals of musical history.

Meanwhile, conductor Eun Sun Kim (1980- ) was appointed the first female music director of the San Francisco Opera in 2019. She is the first female music director of a major U.S. opera company. She is the second Korean conductor to hold the position of music director of a major opera company in the world, following Myung-whun Chung (1953-), who was selected as music director of the Bastille Opera in Paris (Opéra National de Paris) in 1989. Maestra  Eun Sun Kim received a master’s degree in composition from Yonsei University and a master’s degree in conducting from the same graduate school, completed the chief conductor course at the Stuttgart National Conservatory of Music, served as an assistant conductor at the Royal Spanish Theater, and was the principal guest conductor at the Houston Grand Opera before landing at the San Francisco Opera.

Eun Sun Kim took the baton for New York Metropolitan Opera’s “La Boheme” as a guest conductor in November 2021. The New York Times praised her, saying, “the star of the evening was the conductor, Eun Sun Kim, in her Met debut. Last month, Kim made history at the San Francisco Opera as the first woman music director of a major American opera company. And at the Met this week, she did the job with musicianly care, assured technical command, subtlety and imagination. It’s been a long time since I’ve heard Puccini’s score so freshly played.”

*NYT Review: In Her Met Debut, a Conductor Leads a Fresh ‘La Bohème’

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/11/10/arts/music/boheme-met-opera-review.html

#K-Classic and Grammys 

Violinist Jennifer Koh won the 2022 Grammy Award for Classical Instrumental Solo for “Alone Together.”

The Grammy Awards, hosted by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (NARAS), cover not only popular music but also classical and jazz. Like Academy Awards, the Grammys, in the words of director Bong Joon-ho, are ‘local.’ They are American awards, not international.

The first Korean to win a Grammy Award was soprano Sumi Jo in 1993. Richard Strauss’ opera “The Woman Without a Shadow (Die Frau Ohne Schatten),” conducted by Georg Solti and recorded with the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, featuring tenor Placido Domingo, soprano Sumi Jo, soprano Julia Varady, and bass José van Dam, won the Best Opera Recording Award. Bel canto soprano Sumi Jo has since received three more Grammy nominations.

In 2011, Korean chamber musicians achieved their first Grammys. The Parker Quartet, consisting of New England Conservatory alumni violinists Daniel Chong and Karen Kim, cellist Kee-Hyun Kim, and violist Jessica Bodner, received the Chamber Music Performance Award for “Ligeti: String Quartets Nos. 1 & 2.” In 2020, the Kronos Quartet’s album “Riley: Sun Rings” received the Engineered Classical Album award, with cellist Yang Jeong-in (Sunny Yang) as a member of the Kronos Quartet. In 2021, Korean American violist Richard Yongjae O’Neill recorded “Concerto for Viola and Chamber Orchestra” composed by Christopher Theofanidis, with the Albany Symphony Orchestra conducted by David Alan Miller. O’Neill won the Grammy for Best Classical Instrumental Solo.

Korean pop, rock, and classical musicians were among the nominees for the 2022 Grammy Awards. BTS was nominated in the Pop Duo/Group category, and Michel Zauner, guitarist/vocalist of the band “Japanese Breakfast” and author of the memoir “Crying at H-Mart,” received nominations in the New Artist and Alternative Music Album categories.

In that same year, violinist Jennifer Koh won the Best Classical Instrumental Solo Award for “Alone Together,” a digitally produced album that featured new works donated by 13 composers during the coronavirus pandemic. Jennifer Koh had previously taken second place at the 1994 Tchaikovsky Competition.

In October 2011, Jennifer Koh performed a recital of “Bach: The Complete Solo Violin Works” at the American Academy of Arts and Letters in New York. I interviewed Jennifer Koh for The Korea Daily and asked for her thoughts on competitions. Jennifer Koh expressed mixed feelings about the competitive system for musicians. To her, music is about creating a unique personal voice and musical perspective, making it challenging to categorize as either good or bad. However, she acknowledged that competitions offer opportunities, especially for those without a musical background. She mentioned that participating in the Tchaikovsky Competition provided her with chances to perform with prestigious orchestras and marked the beginning of her musical career.