By Lee Hyo-won
Staff Reporter
Praised by Maestro Paik Kun-woo as an artist who ``already possesses his own character and (musical) fantasy,’’ Kim Jun-hee is a young pianist to watch out for.
Last month he harmonized with Paik and two other rising stars, Kim Tae-hyung and Kim Sun-wook, in a unique four-piano performance, and on Friday he will showcase his talent in a solo recital.
``I just took an exam. I need to practice, but I had to write a five-page paper,’’ said the 19-year-old, though without a trace of worry in his bright grin, in an interview with The Korea Times last week.
Currently a junior at the Korea National University of Arts, Kim won second prize at the 2007 Long-Thibault Competition in France, becoming one of the youngest ever laureates of the prestigious event.
``The Long-Thibault was an overwhelming competition but I got totally into it and practiced to death,’’ he said. He is now filling out applications to attend another competition that he ``got totally into.’’
International competition titles feed into concert engagements and often record or management contracts, and are thus a rite of passage for many young musicians. Kim is among the first ``purely Korean-bred’’ winners that reflect the growth of local classical music education.
He doesn’t mind the label, but he wants to live abroad after college. ``Being `Korean-bred’ is fine but I want to experience more things and learn about different cultures,’’ said the young man, who was deeply moved by his time in Paris.
But it would be misleading to categorize Kim into the lump of Czerny etude-trained clan of Korean pianists. Having grown up in a non-musical family, he had a palpable love for music and started ``fooling around’’ with the piano at age six. But he refused the typical education system and played whatever tune was resonating in his mind. He did not have access to a large variety of music either, and repeatedly listened to the one CD he had _ Rachmaninov Piano Concertos by Maestro Paik. Less than 10 years later they would take the stage together _ ``it’s a dream come true,’’ he said.
He then went on to fall in love with an Impromptu by Schubert or a Scherzo by Chopin, and tried reenacting it. ``I didn’t know the title. But even if I did I couldn’t read sheet music so I just went from one octave to another until I got the right note,’’ he said. ``This was when (my peer) Sun-wook was bidding to buy a baton that belonged to Maestro Chung Myun-whun.’’
Nevertheless, Kim entered an arts school. Compared to his contemporaries, he was something of a blank slate, an only recently tamed beast. Indeed, there is a certain freedom and kaleidoscopic color in his playing, which is breathless but never formless. But, in a way, he knew nothing and at the same time everything about music. Kim said he continues to absorb all the new repertoire and training with the enthusiasm of a child at an amusement park, though he admits disliking long practices.
For his upcoming recital, he will present some challenging pieces in a slightly unconventional order: Beethoven’s 32 Variations in C minor, WoO 80, which can easily sound monotonous, followed immediately by something modern, Bartok’s ``Two Rumanian Dances for Piano,’’ Op. 8/a. Then he will play Chopin’s ``Barcarolle’’ in F-sharp major, Op. 60 and Liszt’s ``Les Jeux d’eaux a la Vila d’Este’’ from the ``Troisieme Annee’’ of ``Annees de Pelerinage,’’ and, finally, he will brave the 40-minute-long Brahms Piano Sonata No. 3, Op. 5.
``I want to see what it’s like to juxtapose Beethoven and Bartok. I’m all about enjoying a fun life, and I really am so happy to do music,’’ he said, adding he is obsessed with all things German at the moment _ not only the German masters and their school of music but also films and books. ``I even want to do musicals with my friends,’’ he laughed.
``Some people are so caught up on succeeding by the time they’re in their mid-30s. I’m looking to my 20s, and I think it’s OK to go crazy about music in your youth,’’ he said, eyes brimming with a sense of liberty, vim and passion that perhaps only the young can indulge in.
Kim’s recital will take place at 8 p.m. Friday at Hoam Art Hall near City Hall. Tickets cost 20,000 won. Call 1577-5266.