59th Chang Han-na Finds Brahms Through Looking-Glass
By Lee Hyo-won
Staff Reporter
Chang Han-na has made the transition from child prodigy extraordinaire to debutant conductor, but she will return later this month to tour Korea with what she is best known for ― an intimate session with the cello.
``Going to Korea always feels like returning home," the 26-year-old Suwon native told The Korea Times in a recent email. ``Because I moved to the U.S. when I was only 10 years old, every time I give a national tour and visit many parts of the country I discover many new things about my roots and heritage, which for me is really exciting and rewarding.''
Her first recital tour here in three years will feature Brahms' two cello sonatas, which will serve as a window into romanticism, and moreover, a sort of looking-glass that mirrors Chang's transformation as an artist.
``Brahms' sonatas were always an important part of my growth," said Chang. The E minor sonata was the piece she played in her first lesson with Maestro Mischa Maisky at the tender age of 10.
Naturally, an artist's interpretation of music evolves over time as ``the piece becomes part of yourself,'' she said.
``But this is very hard to describe in words because it is like looking at yourself in the mirror every day. You don't realize how your face changes, but if you meet a friend who hasn't seen you in months or years, that friend will know immediately what is different about you.
In retrospect, her first lesson with Maisky was ``the single most important turning point'' in her musical growth ― ``everything I did afterwards has its roots in that hour.'' The session enabled her to learn that the composer is ``a real person'' as well as ``the most important person for the performer.''
Brahms, she explained, was ``a romantic at heart'' who tried to preserve the classical heritage he had inherited from Beethoven and Mozart. ``His music is full of nostalgia, passion, and tenderness, but always with an underlying feeling of a conflict, a struggle.''
While preparing a performance takes a long time, said the cellist, ``the moment you are on stage and performing is probably when you have the freest and clearest picture of the music.''
``So audience is of course a very important part of sharing music and experiencing it,'' she said, adding that she hopes the Korean audience will be able to have ``a heart-to-heart meeting'' with the late German composer through his music. ``For me, classical music has the power to move your heart and soul beyond the ordinary.''
Art of Sharing
Chang emphasized that classical music should be something universal and easily accessible, especially in Korea, where there is ``a horrible misconception'' that the genre is only for the select few.
``I feel very strongly about this. After all, you don't need special knowledge or a diploma to love and enjoy music ― music is there not to be understood but to be felt by your heart,'' she said, stressing the spiritual realm of music.
``Music is the only thing in the world that allows complete strangers to come together and become one in spirit in a very short time.''
This unifying force of music was particularly apparent during Absolute Classic, a festival launched this fall in Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province. Directed by Chang, it is an educational program that reaches out to children and youths.
Chang only had 10 or so days to practice conducting the Mostly Philharmonic Orchestra but was able to achieve an ``immense concentration of (everyone's) emotions,'' including that of the audience.
She plans to continue the festival in the years to come.
``Our ultimate goal is to provide an environment where the gap between the stage and the audience disappears, and we are all able to become one and truly enjoy this great music together completely and absolutely… hence the name `Absolute.''' Long-term projects include auditioning musicians aged 11-24 for the Youth Orchestra.
When asked about what advice she would give to aspiring musicians, she said it was important to decide on one's own whether to pursue music and to sustain that love for the art.
``And one other thing would be what Maestro Sinopoli told me on many occasions: That music should be the most important thing in a musician's life, but music should not be the only thing in a musician's life.''
The cello virtuoso is known to have led a relatively ``normal'' life, curbing concert tours and attending non-arts schools. She is currently pursuing a philosophy degree at Harvard University, and while her ``heroes'' include teachers Maisky, Lorin Maazel and S. Rostropovich, she finds inspiration in Abraham Lincoln, whom she is reading about voraciously these days.
Chang has been making her foray into the world of conducting, and was recently taken under the wing of Maestro Maazel, with whom she will continue to study over the course of the season. She received tips on everything from analyzing the score to rehearsal techniques, and the most important thing she has learned is that conductors ``are there to serve the music and help the musicians'' and that ``there should be no ego involved whatsoever.''
``The biggest joy for me is to witness 100 individuals becoming one mind and one living instrument… Making 'our' music together (versus 'my' music) is for me such a wonderful and magical process and this embodies what music is really all about."
For Chang, conducting, like playing the cello, is in essence ``a means of sharing music with others.''
The prolific musician's interests are not limited to Brahms and his contemporaries, but span to include contemporary compositions by Penderecki, Ligeti and Maazel, as well as ``gugak'' (Korean classical music), in which ``every note is complete in itself and seems to contain the universe.''
``My dream is to become a musician who shares without boundaries or limits… sharing everything and all that I have through music, sharing this great music with many people.''
Chang will begin her cross-country tour Nov. 20 at Goyang Aram Nuri Arts Complex, Gyeonggi Province and continue Nov. 21 at Seoul Arts Center; Nov. 26 at Sungsan Arts Hall, Changwon, South Gyeongsang Province; Nov. 28 at Gunpo Culture & Art Center, Gyeonggi Province; and Dec. 3 at Busan Cultural Center. Visit www.pmgkorea.com.
Her essential travel items? ``My Bible, good books, scores to study… and a nice pair of shoes!''