By Lee Hyo-won
Staff Reporter
Pianist Lee Hyekyung has been teaching at Chung-Ang University for 24 years, but her pursuit of music ― and exploring its fathomless nature ― continue, steadily and with unwavering devotion.
While educated in Germany, the 49-year-old's philosophical approach toward music can be described by the Korean philosophical concept ``deukeum'' ― or musical enlightenment, where the grandeur of the universe can be conceived in a single note.
Lee has a wide-ranging repertoire, from staples of classical music to modern pieces by Unsuk Chin. Yet, over time she realized how quality prevails over quantity, and is taking a break from learning new pieces. Instead, she revisits the same piece time after time to make it her own. The process of ``organizing'' her repertoire is made complete by immortalizing it through recording.
Lee has four albums ― Frank and Rachmnaninov, Ravel, Mozart and Schumann ― under her belt. While Lee's playing is clearly a result of incredible rigor, as with top performers, you cannot hear the effort. Moreover, it seethes with natural rhythm and breath, and a profound intellectual concern.
Yet, classical music can be confounding to many. ``Music is of course an international language, but it's a specialized, rather than general one,'' she said about the more general struggle of the genre being perceived as esoteric. There are difficulties in making such a difficult genre more accessible to a more general public. ``Classics, in essence, entails the highest level of communication being transferred on a one-to-one basis,'' she said.
Lee herself grew up during a time when piano education ― let alone seeing the instrument ― was a rare luxury. Born in Gangwon Province in 1959, she began playing the instrument at age six under her mother's influence. She moved to Germany before graduating from high school, attaining degrees at Essen and Munich with a scholarship. A recipient of the Bach Prize at Vianna da Motta International Competition in Lisbon, she returned to Korea in 1984 to give highly acclaimed recitals and accept a professorship at Chung-Ang University. In 1988, she was named Musician of the Year by the prestigious Dong-A Music magazine among other honors from various music societies.
``Big changes, decisions always come knocking without notice,'' she said about the two defining moments in her life: going abroad when overseas travel was rare and then returning to Korea to become one of the youngest ever professors. The pianist said she lacks ambition and drive. Yet, over the years, what had been an almost accidental flirtation with teaching has become her life. In 2006 she was a guest professor at the Music College in Saarbrucken, Germany. She loves being friends with her students.
Lee will appear Wednesday as a soloist with the Seongnam Philharmonic Orchestra, at Seongnam Arts Center. It will be her first time playing Bartok's Piano Concert No. 3 for the public. ``It's Bartok's last piece and breathes with nature,'' she said.
Also included in the program is Bruckner's Symphony No. 4 in E-flat Major ``Romantic.'' German conductor Frank Cramer, who appears in major concert halls and festivals in Europe and North America, will take the baton. In Korea, he received critical acclaim for conducting the Korean premiere of Zemlinsky's ``Die Seejungfrau'' with the Korean Symphony Orchestra and revived modern pieces by the late Korean-German composer Isang Yun at the 2007 Isang Yun Tongyeong music festival.
Tickets cost 10,000 won for adults and 5,000 won for children. Seongnam Arts Center is located near exit 1, Imae Station, Bundang subway line. Call (031) 729-1555.