Anna Jiwon Park has been covering the politics at The Korea Times since the summer of 2024, when she joined the press pool for the Office of the President in Korea. Prior to that, she spent about five years reporting extensively on financial markets, regulatory authorities and the financial industry. She joined The Korea Times in 2019 after spending eight years as a broadcast journalist at Arirang TV, Korea’s leading global broadcaster, covering politics, defense and culture.
INTERVIEW Park Jong-seong lifts harmonica to key musical instrument in classical music performances
Harmonicist Park Jong-seong poses for a photo with one of his harmonicas. Korea Times photo by Choi Won-suk
By Anna J. Park
By Anna J. Park
Park Jong-seong, 32, is a pioneer who has lifted the status of harmonica to one of the key musical instruments in the classical music scene.
He is the first student to major in harmonica at a university in Korea. He is also the first Korean ever to win the first prize at the World Harmonica Festival in 2009, held every four years in Germany. He has won first prize in many other competitions, including the Asia Pacific Harmonica Festival in China in 2008, and Whole-Japan Harmonica Competition Champion of Tremolo solo in 2011.
As a world-class harmonica soloist, Park has performed with Korea's major orchestras, including the Korean Symphony Orchestra and Gyeonggi Philharmonic Orchestra, among others. He has also been often featured on various soundtracks of films and TV shows.
Park first picked up the instrument when he was 12 as a hobby. At the time, he didn't expect it to be the center of his life; soon, the fun of playing the harmonica became the most joyful thing in his life.
“What I am truly grateful about my first harmonica teacher is that he not only taught me how to play the harmonica, but he also taught me how to play it with joy and fun. So later, when I had to make decisions about my future and career, I thought I wanted to spend my life doing what I most love to do, and playing the harmonica was my favorite thing to do at the time. That's how I decided to become a professional harmonica player,” Park said during a recent interview with The Korea Times.
Despite the harmonica's reputation as an easily accessible instrument, it is quite complicated to learn. There are so many types of instrument including tremolo, chromatic and diatonic harmonicas, among many others, all with different playing techniques.
“It's not easy to learn all those techniques, but I think I enjoyed the process of learning them as well, because I needed those techniques to create the sound I wanted to make. I didn't regard it as training,” he said.
Harmonist Park Jong-seong shows one of his chromatic harmonicas. By pressing the button, the instrument is capable of playing 12 notes of a chromatic scale. Korea Times photo by Choi Won-suk
Park said he feels blessed that he still finds playing the harmonica interesting and fun. He said he now enjoys the process of conveying his musical ideas, thoughts or sentiments into the harmonica and communication with the audience.
Currently, Park is busy preparing for his upcoming concert at the nation's prestigious Seoul Arts Center on June 6. He will play various solo pieces, including Toledo's “Spanish Fantasy,” and music from the film score of “Schindler's List” by John Williams. He will also play with other harmonica artists, as a duo or as a chamber orchestra, presenting the audience a wide spectrum of harmonica sounds.
“The harmonica goes well with classical or jazz music genres, as well as Latin music like the tango. It also suits traditional Korean music, blues or gypsy music genres well. The size of the instrument is small, thus its reed is small and sensitive. The sensitivity of its reed contributes to the harmonica's versatile music tones,” he said.
The concert also coincides with the release of his third album, “Harmonicist.” The album is a compilation of some of famous classical pieces like Thais' “Meditation,” some traditional Korean tracks and his own compositions. The lead track is “Trace,” composed by himself.
“The track is about traces of our lives. We want to erase some traces, yet some others are beautiful and warm. All of those are part of our lives. So this track is basically about my life's diverse traces. It could be heard as either warm or sad, according to listeners,” Park said of the track.
He now has more than 40 music pieces that he has written for his beloved instrument. Park said one of the reasons he studied composition was that the harmonica does not have much of a classical music repertoire written exclusively for the instrument, and he wanted to create pieces for his instrument himself.
“Due to the harmonica's rather short history, classical music pieces for it are very few, most of them written in the 20th century. So I thought I had to create them myself,” he said.
Harmonicist Park Jeong-seong plays his instrument. Korea Times photo by Choi Won-suk
Park said he used to be somewhat disheartened that the harmonica was not taken very seriously by people. He has tried to change that perception by trying to impress audiences with his virtuoso skills and impeccable performances. But now, he realized the harmonica's modest image could be its asset.
“Everyone knows the harmonica and many of them have direct experience playing the instrument. Now I know this level of great familiarity and popular image is a big asset for the development of the instrument,” Park said.
“I want to contribute to the growth and development of the harmonica. Due to its relatively short history, the instrument does not have many classical music pieces, without any solid education programs available in Korea. I wish to help the instrument earn the status of one of the main instruments on the music scene.”