By Yi Whan-woo
Koh Sang-ji refuses to be portrayed as a pioneer of Argentinean folk instrument bandoneon in Korea.
But her life is self-explanatory when it comes to raising awareness of the accordion-like instrument used in tango ensembles.
Koh simply dropped out of KAIST, a top engineering school in Korea, because she wanted to learn bandoneon intensively after getting acquainted with it.
The first Korean to study at Orquesta Escuela de Tango Emilio Balcarce, a two-year training orchestra, she started her professional career as one of Korea's early bandoneonists in the 2000s.
Her rare yet challenging mindset in Korea's education-obsessed society is still brought up whenever she is interviewed by the media.
This accordingly makes people curious about the bandoneon that is lesser-known here, and those same people become interested in tango music and dance.
"It still doesn't matter and I don't think of myself as a cultural bridge between Argentina and Korea," she told The Korea Times in an email interview, Tuesday. "I would appreciate if people merely address me as a composer or a bandoneonist."
Koh recently joined one of the nine editions of the Stay Joyful online concert series, hosted by the Korea Foundation from August to October to promote cultural exchanges in the COVID-19 era and promote Korea around the world.
She played her own song "Room of Rainwater," plus "Por Una Cabeza" ― featured in a famous tango scene in Hollywood film "Scent of a Woman" ― as well as "Le Grand Tango" composed by bandoneon master Astor Piazzolla.
Named after Heinrich Band, a German instrument dealer, the bandoneon was intended for religious music but became essential for tango ensembles after German immigrants brought it to Argentina.
Although it looks and sounds like an accordion, the bandoneon is actually a member of the concertina family, with rows of buttons on each side of the bellows instead of a piano-like keyboard.
The left-side buttons produces bass notes and the right-side produce higher register notes. The resulting pitches differ depending on whether the instrument's bellows are being pulled opened or pushed closed.
"It can make various sounds ― sometimes like a church organ and very sharp at other times ― and this is what I love about the bandoneon," she said.
She has released eight albums and singles so far, while performing together with several pop musicians, including Kim Dong-ryul, Jung Jae-hyung and IU.
A fan of Piazzolla, Koh plans to release an album and hold concerts both drawing largely on the influential composer's works. These will occur in conjunction with Piazzolla's birth centenary next year.
Koh Sang-ji refuses to be portrayed as a pioneer of Argentinean folk instrument bandoneon in Korea.
But her life is self-explanatory when it comes to raising awareness of the accordion-like instrument used in tango ensembles.
Koh simply dropped out of KAIST, a top engineering school in Korea, because she wanted to learn bandoneon intensively after getting acquainted with it.
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| Koh Sang-ji, one of Korea's first bandoneonists, poses with the Argentinean folk instrument. Her latest activity includes joining the Stay Joyful online concert hosted by the Korea Foundation to overcome COVID-19 and promote cultural exchanges with other countries. / Courtesy of Private Curve |
Her rare yet challenging mindset in Korea's education-obsessed society is still brought up whenever she is interviewed by the media.
This accordingly makes people curious about the bandoneon that is lesser-known here, and those same people become interested in tango music and dance.
"It still doesn't matter and I don't think of myself as a cultural bridge between Argentina and Korea," she told The Korea Times in an email interview, Tuesday. "I would appreciate if people merely address me as a composer or a bandoneonist."
Koh recently joined one of the nine editions of the Stay Joyful online concert series, hosted by the Korea Foundation from August to October to promote cultural exchanges in the COVID-19 era and promote Korea around the world.
She played her own song "Room of Rainwater," plus "Por Una Cabeza" ― featured in a famous tango scene in Hollywood film "Scent of a Woman" ― as well as "Le Grand Tango" composed by bandoneon master Astor Piazzolla.
Named after Heinrich Band, a German instrument dealer, the bandoneon was intended for religious music but became essential for tango ensembles after German immigrants brought it to Argentina.
Although it looks and sounds like an accordion, the bandoneon is actually a member of the concertina family, with rows of buttons on each side of the bellows instead of a piano-like keyboard.
The left-side buttons produces bass notes and the right-side produce higher register notes. The resulting pitches differ depending on whether the instrument's bellows are being pulled opened or pushed closed.
"It can make various sounds ― sometimes like a church organ and very sharp at other times ― and this is what I love about the bandoneon," she said.
She has released eight albums and singles so far, while performing together with several pop musicians, including Kim Dong-ryul, Jung Jae-hyung and IU.
A fan of Piazzolla, Koh plans to release an album and hold concerts both drawing largely on the influential composer's works. These will occur in conjunction with Piazzolla's birth centenary next year.
