Next Mozart to Premiere New Work
By Lee Hyo-won
Staff Reporter
Jay Greenberg, a 16-year-old musical prodigy regarded as ``the next Mozart,'' will premiere his chamber piece inspired by Korean fairytales Friday at the International Great Mountains Music Festival & School (GMMFS), Gangwon Province.
Born in 1991 in Connecticut, Greenberg began playing the cello at age three and later taught himself the piano. He began formal training in theory and composition when he was seven and received a scholarship three years later to a special program at New York's Juilliard School of Music.
He came onto the public radar in 2003 through CBS's ``60 Mintues,'' where Juilliard instructor Saumel Zyman lauded his potential to be on par with the most illustrious geniuses such as Mozart, Mendelssohn and Saint-Saens.
So far the teen has composed more than 100 works, including five symphonies of which the fifth landed him a contract with Sony BMG (2006). The organizing committee of GMMFS, Korea's foremost annual music event, commissioned a 15-minute piece for strings. His father suggested he could perhaps find inspiration in something Korean, Greenberg told reporters at a private luncheon in Seoul Wednesday.
In a statement, he said he was intrigued by how Korean fairytales ``often end in violent, tragic, or unexpected ways and/or feature content that would have been considered unacceptable in Europe of the same period.'' But he preferred not to further discuss the four-part piece ``Four Scenes,'' not wishing to instill prejudgment in listeners.
``What would you do if you personally met an eight-year-old boy who can compose and fully notate half a movement of a magnificent piano sonata in the style of Beethoven, before your very eyes and without a piano, in less than an hour?'' Samuel Zyman, who has taught music theory to Greenberg, wrote in the Juilliard Journal in 2003.
But his father, Robert, associate dean of undergraduate studies at Hunter College, told The Korea Times in a subsequent interview, that ``as a parent, you don't question the creative process. It's just there, it just is… He's writing all the time. He's probably writing it now too (in his head),'' he said.
``Oh, actually no, I'm just playing around with this,'' said the composer as he fiddled with the chopstick holder. One is stuck by the young man's incredible modesty and matter-of-factness. Having already graduated high school, he has more time on his hands. But he doesn't think of music all the time, and likes hiking and rock climbing.
``After I'm done writing the music I don't actually remember writing the music, it's just there. I don't remember any particular section; I just remember I was writing music that day,'' said Greenberg. Sometimes he rewrites movements when it doesn't seem right. The words fluidity, introversion and intuition come to mind., but aren't holistic enough to describe his process of creation.
What is music to him? Greenberg gives a rather technical answer: ``anything that has definite pitch and organization; organized sound basically… Something written by composers… It's my job, my main interest.'' He doesn't feel the need to take more music classes. He once considered majoring in the sciences like theoretical physics in college, but isn't sure anymore.
On the long plane ride to Korea, the artist again had an urge to write music, his father revealed, and completed the first movement of a sonata for two pianos. Most of his works, he said, are composition exercises. ``It's just something people might listen to,'' he said.
The world can just watch, and listen closely, and allow his music to speak for itself.
For more information about the festival, call (033) 249-3374 or visit www.gmmfs.com