Everyday Lives, Extraordinary Music!

My Philadelphia Debut recital sponsored by Astral Artists is finally happening on December 5, 2021 in American Philosophical Society at 3 p.m. If you are in the area, please come!

I named the program “Everyday Lives, Extraordinary Music!” The goal of this particular program is to unveil hidden treasures in the flute literature and spotlight the lesser performed pieces by master composers. I brought these intriguing pieces together which were inspired by other songs: a poetic paraphrase from Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin, affable Schubert’s art songs re-conceptualized by Theobald Boehm, and folk songs re-envisioned by Beethoven and Joachim Andersen. From folk to operatic tunes, these musical works represent everyday emotions of our daily lives: love, despair, joy, and longing.

The crème de la crème of today’s performance is the world-premiere of American Composer Shawn Okpebholo’s On a Painting by Henry Ossawa Tanner: The Thankful Poor. Shawn’s new work captures the complex emotions of the working class beautifully:  the ongoing war between hope and struggles depicted in the painting. This piece was written for me in 2020 with the generous support of Astral Artists. Thanks to Shawn’s masterly writing and understanding of the instrument, the new work has endless potential and charm. I have no doubt that this piece will become every flutist’s key solo repertoire. 

Tchaikovsky (arr. Kim) | Lensky’s Aria

Okpebholo | On a Painting by Henry Ossawa Tanner: The Thankful Poor

Beethoven | 6 National Airs and Variations, Op. 105

Schubert (arr. Boehm) | Gute Nacht & Die Taubenpost

Andersen | Etude No. 4, Op. 21

Andersen | Ballade et danse des sylphes, Op. 5

New Obsession

Sept. 30, 2018

When something catches my eye, I tend to slowly build obsessions for it. Often it’s healthy obsessions, at least I’d like to believe they are. Sometimes I’d like to take time to research to see if I’d enjoy it if I make that obsession into reality (like the one time when I started taking film photos). Sometimes I’d like to be little bit impulsive without a second thought. I will give you an example.

Recently I was asked to present a recital, and a program of my choice. At the time of making the decision, I listened to many different pieces that I have not played. Then I started building an obsession to Romance by Philippe Gaubert (1879-1941). I have played and heard his works before, but hadn’t heard the Romance at all. I started to locate the music, called a friend and searched the library catalogue. My friend had a relatively newer part and score, and the school library had a fossil-like copy — one of those copies when you open you have to blow the dust off, and each page immediately falls apart.

The beautiful opening melody became part of my daily warm-up routine. Wherever I went, I took the beautiful melody with me. (I am thinking about transposing it, and add to my own “Tone Development” exercises.)

Anyway, this beautiful and mysterious composition of Gaubert, has been in my head all the time. I listen to it when commuting, resting, and humming the melody while doing dishes and sweeping the floor.