Cellist-turned-conductor Chang Han-na tours Korea with Trondheim Symphony Orchestra

Maestro Han-Na Chang speaks during a press conference at the Plaza Hotel in central Seoul, Monday. Courtesy of CREDIA

By Anna J. Park

Chang Han-na, 36, chief conductor and music director of Norway's Trondheim Symphony Orchestra, is presenting concerts in Korea this week with the orchestra she has been leading since 2017.

Starting this evening at the Seoul Arts Center in the capital, Chang and the Trondheim Symphony Orchestra will perform three more concerts in Busan, Daegu and Iksan, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday, respectively.

This is the 110-year-old Norwegian orchestra's first visit to Korea and the tour is more special as Korea is the motherland of the orchestra's chief conductor. It is also Chang's first visit to Korea in more than five years, since she led a music festival as the music director and conductor in the summer of 2014.

"I am very glad and excited that I am able to share the joy of music with the Korean people. This year particularly marks the 60th anniversary of establishing diplomatic ties with Norway, as well as the 25th anniversary of my musical debut; I am very happy," Chang said during a press conference held in central Seoul, Monday.

Maestro Han-Na Chang, right, poses for a photo with Roar Leinan, the Trondheim Symphony Orchestra's managing director in Seoul, Monday. Courtesy of CREDIA

A cellist-turned-conductor, Chang started her music career when she was only 11, winning the first prize at the Rostropovich International Cello Competition in 1994. The Harvard-educated cello prodigy began conducting about 10 years ago, learning from late maestro Lorin Maazel.

"I have played the cello since I was very young. As the number of cello pieces is not that many, it felt like I see the musical world through a microscope; I wanted to see the vastness of music with a telescope. So I started to just study music scores of symphonies by Mahler, Bruckner and Beethoven. An orchestra is one huge instrument comprised of many other separate instruments. The infinite possibilities of its musical sound and expressions have opened my ears and eyes, and I began to have desires to perform such music myself. That's how I started studying conducting; after making a debut as a conductor, I felt convinced that this was the path I needed to follow," she explained.

"I had no fear of becoming a conductor from being a cellist, as I was always very sure of what music meant to me and to my life; I knew so well that this was what I wanted," she added. "I hope every student of music also finds and becomes the true self that they want, instead of what others want them to be. I hope everyone has a dream to be a pioneer and explorer of their own lives. Life happens once; I think a life that we ourselves can be satisfied is important."

She became the first female music director at the Qatar Philharmonic Orchestra in 2013, and the first music director at the Trondheim Symphony Orchestra in 2017. She will be serving as the Norwegian orchestra's chief conductor until 2023.

"I first guest conducted the Trondheim Symphony Orchestra in February 2013, and we had a great connection together. I was then made the principal guest conductor, and finally chief conductor. The orchestra is like my family. One of the reasons I love this orchestra is that every one of the members is so passionate about music, just like myself. They do their utmost on stage. Koreans are also known for being very passionate; I am glad that we can present our music to Korean audiences," Chang said.

The official poster of the Korea tour by the Trondheim Symphony Orchestra. The orchestra will perform four concerts in Seoul, Busan, Daegu and Iksan on Wednesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday, respectively, this week. Pianist Lim Dong-hyek will perform Grieg's Piano Concerto as a soloist. / Courtesy of CREDIA

As a music director and chief conductor at the Trondheim Symphony, she has been focusing on Mahler's symphonies. She regularly performs symphony Nos. 2, 3, 6, 7 and 9, as well as at least one Bruckner symphony a year. Marking the 250th anniversary of the birth of Beethoven, every one of his symphonies will be performed next year.

During the Korea tour concerts, the Norwegian orchestra will present representative Norwegian composer Grieg's "Peer Gynt Suite No. 1, Op. 46" and "Piano Concerto in A minor, Op. 16." Korean pianist Lim Dong-hyek will perform as a soloist. In the second part of the concert, Tchaikovsky's "Symphony No. 6 in B minor, Op. 74," also known as the Pathetique Symphony, will be performed.

"This program contains all of the Norwegian musical energy; I hope the audiences can enjoy the program. However, the programs we present are not very bright. Grieg's music has a death element; Tchaikovsky died some two weeks after he premiered Symphony No. 6. The symphony has so many strong elements in it; there is passionate sadness, regret of love, resistance to destiny, his power as well as the weakness of unavoidable surrender. All of these are what every human questions and feels in their life," the female conductor explained.

"I believe a conductor can motivate and inspire orchestra members with his or her sincere heart and love for music. I always try to communicate with them wholeheartedly, while sharing all the greatness of music. Sometimes it feels like a challenge, but I am as happy as a fish in water when I am conducting," she said.

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