Cellist Park Yoo-sin "I want to show the charm of classical music that opens up another world"

연합뉴스 / 2023-02-26 16:31:41

▲ This photo, provided by Moc Production, shows cellist Park Yoo-sin. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap)

SEOUL, Feb. 26 (Yonhap) – "Classic is actually difficult and heavy. When I'm working on a music festival program, I get asked, "Why should people listen to this song?" The answer I found is that there's a classic charm that makes the space feel like it's in another world. I hope more people will know this kind of charm."

Cellist Park Yoo-sin (33) is a performer who plays well both on stage and off stage. From the Autumn Chamber Music Festival, which began in 2019, and the Pohang Music Festival, which has been held every year since 2021, she has been a music director at two festivals, recruiting performers and organizing programs.

Park Yoo-sin recently said in an interview with Yonhap News Agency at the Seoul Arts Center in Seocho-gu, Seoul, "I want to make the festival a music festival that continues to survive in this era by planning well while I am in charge as a music director."

As a performer who has received attention for her good performance in international competitions, including second place in the Janáček International Competition in 2018 and second place in the Anton Rubinstein International Competition, she has been planning festivals every year for the past five years and meeting closer to the audience than any other performer.

In particular, the Pohang Music Festival, which began in 2021, is a large-scale music festival held in her hometown of Pohang City and has introduced high-quality classical stages to local audiences where classical performances are rare.

She said she is deeply concerned about popularizing classical music, which she did not know much before, as she directed a local music festival.

"There were a lot of embarrassing things when I held the first music festival. Even if I had a hard time recruiting famous overseas performer, the tickets wouldn't sell. Rather, performers familiar to the public and performing famous songs received much better responses. I am feeling a lot of things when I see the audience's reactions. I'm also learning how to compromise with myself from my own thoughts."

She said she is also feeling the reality that students majoring in classical music are gradually disappearing outside of Seoul.

"When I was in high school, there were as many students majoring in classic music in Pohang, enough to students to make an orchestra, but I couldn't even dream of being an orchestra at a local art high school these days. I think local music festivals such as the Pohang Music Festival should be a link for local classical students to develop their dreams. It's a festival with heavy responsibility."

Park Yoo-sin, a graduate of Kyung Hee University College of Music and Hochschule fuer Musik Dresden in Germany, has filled her 20s and early 30s with various activities including practice, competitions, concerts, records and festival directors.

Last year, she married violinist Kim Young-wook, a member of the world-renowned string quartet Novus Quartet, spending her days full of music.

She cited "a personality that likes music and does not have a hard time concentrating on what I like" as the driving force behind her non-stop activities.

"When I was in my 20s, I didn't even give myself the time to have a slump. In the process of completing a song that didn't work for months and performing as I imagined on stage, I've been enjoying myself and immersed in music."

On the 7th of next month, the recital "Something (translated)" consisting only of Mendelssohn's songs will be held at the IBK Chamber Hall of the Seoul Arts Center.

Last year, she met with the audience with Schumann's lyrical tune and Rachmaninoff's passionate melody, and this time she plays Mendelssohn's bright and hopeful music.

Park Yoo-shin introduced, "Mendelssohn is a song with a lot of positive atmosphere, so it is good music to play in March when spring begins."

"There are many songs by German composers that require delicate and inner maturity. I want you to feel the unique charm of Mendelssohn's song, which is different from Schumann or Brahms."

(This article is translated from Korean to English by Yunhee Cho)

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