“Now I Can Communicate With the Audience through My Music”

“So far I have only played my music onstage which was produced by someone else, but after inviting speech guests, preparing visual aids, and directing the stage, I realized that the various activities that I performed during my lifetime were not meaningless. I found that music reflecting our life experiences can transmit a deeper sense of resonation.”

The last performance of the music story “Park Kyung-ok’s Proposal” by the cellist Park Kyung-ok (48, photo), held at the recital hall of the Seoul Art Center once a month for three months, will be on December 16 at 8:00 p.m.

The performance occurring in the 350-seat recital hall is a musical event allowing heart-to-heart conversation with the audience, much like salon concerts. As such, the performer’s abilities and characteristic, as well as relationships with her friends, have been reflected in the events.

In “Autumn Thoughts of October,” Park invited the lawyer Goh Seung-duk whom she attended school with during the 1970s. In the “Friends of November” concert, the event was a meditation on life and death, set to the background of the animation “Freddy the Leaf” by the Japanese animation director Takeshi Ui.

This “Music Gift of December” is different from the last concert that focused on the story and visual props, and is composed solely of “musical gifts.” The baritone Jeong Rok-gi, who is said to have a voice similar to a cello, will accompany the tunes of Schubert and Brahms, while Bach’s “St. Matthew Passion” will be set to the background of the harp ensemble (harpist Kwak Jeong) and the jazz piano (Kim Seong-gwan), a grouping that has rarely been harmonized with the cello.

Park said, “By meeting with the audience, I’ve realized that I can communicate with them through music,” and, “Rather than the showy concerts of foreign musicians, I hope the audience can visit the small-scale concerts of Korean musicians.” 20,000∼40,000 won. 02-580-1300

raphy@donga.com