 Prof. Kim Moon-hee of Konkuk University teaches a young girl selected for the “Korean El Sistema” musical education program at her classroom in Seoul, on April 13. / Courtesy of C-Sharp Media |
Seoul City Nurtures Poor, Talented Youngsters Into Future Maestros
By Bae Ji-sook
Staff Reporter
Can music mend the broken hearts of low-income teenagers? Seoul City has initiated a music training program for ``talented yet poor'' youngsters with the aim of nurturing next-generation maestros.
The course, which started its second term on April 13, provides a six-month private music class conducted by 25 Konkuk University professors to 75 individual students.
The selected students will hold two concerts and several seminars during the sessions and receive special lessons from world-renowned violinist Richard (Yong-jae) O'Neil.
The program was modeled after the famous ``El Sistema'' program in Venezuela, which has fostered numerous musicians. First established by an entrepreneur in 1975 to promote music among Venezuelan adolescents, it has now become a public network of 100,000 young people with thousands of mentors.
What made the program so powerful was that it reportedly cut off the vicious circle of poverty and crime.
According to Seoul officials, teenagers involved in drugs and other criminal rings found their shelter and hope in music. Now the program is backed by the Hugo Chavez administration, taught by world-renowned musicians and helped Gustavo Dudamel launch his career as a conductor with the LA Philharmonic Orchestra, among many others.
``In Seoul, drugs are not much of an issue among low-income earners yet. We believe that music has some power on everyone. El Sistema showed that music can do something that current charity programs can't,'' Lim Jong-hyun, a Seoul city official said. The selected students include an autistic boy.
On Monday at the Konkuk University campus in Seoul, 12 year-old Kim In-jun sang an Italian song before Prof. Kim Moon-hee of the university's music department. Though the girl had been taking lessons at private institutes, she was obviously nervous to sing before a professor.
``It's definitely an opportunity for me. I was thrilled to have passed the audition. It's a bit tough but I'm sure I'll succeed,'' she said.
After the one-hour-lesson, the teacher said she was very enthusiastic and eager to learn. ``I can feel that Kim was trying to absorb as much as she could,'' she said.
She said the program is a great opportunity for the teachers, too, to share their knowledge with the less privileged.
``I decided to volunteer for the program as a good opportunity to show noblesse oblige,'' she said.
Organizers plan to provide ongoing support and care for the graduates to help them fulfill their dreams.
bjs@koreatimes.co.kr
