Junior Hannah Yoon connects music and culture

STORY HANNA BAE

PHOTO SAMANTHA SHIROISHI

L ooking upon the audience and her fellow orchestra members in the Soyul Gayageum Orchestra of the Korean Traditional Music Institution of America (KTMIA), SPHS junior Hannah Yoon quietly held onto her gayageum on stage in the Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall. Yoon immerses herself in strings and plucking, but in an unconventional way. When she is not trying to taste all Buldak flavors, playing gayageum offers ways for her to connect with and share her culture, develop her musicality, and perform while interacting with an audience.

A gayageum is a traditional Korean plucked zither with 12 to 25 strings. The gayageum is played sitting on the floor with the instrument itself lying on the floor, but more modern renditions include stands with the player seated in a chair. The gayageum has distinctive technical aspects, and uses a different system of notation in sheet music. The instrument was played for court music beginning as early as the sixth century and used a type of score made specifically for it. Today, the arrangements are written using the Western system, but use special symbols to note the different techniques the gayageum uses.

Yoon has been playing the gayageum for about five years, picking it up when her aunt, who professionally plays the instrument in South Korea, came to the U.S. for a performance. Yoon previously played the flute, but made a drastic switch in middle school to the atypical instrument. Now, playing the instrument offers her a special bond with her culture, a connection she struggled to solidify before.

“It was my first time seeing an instrument like that and I loved the way it sounded, so after the show, when my mom asked if I was interested in learning how to play, I said yes,” Yoon said. “Growing up as a Korean American, it was hard finding my identity and where I belonged in terms of my culture. But, the longer I played the gayageum, the more I felt appreciative of Korean culture and was comfortable with embracing it.”

As president of the Soyul Gayageum Orchestra, Yoon plays at the Korean Education Center of Los Angeles, where she takes lessons, plays with the orchestra, and receives community service hours for offering lessons for younger students. The orchestra performs at a variety of events at libraries, churches, Korean culture showcases, and competitions. Yoon was in awe at the number of young students playing the novel instrument.

“I think there are actually a lot of people who play or are learning how to play this instrument. At the KECLA, there is a Root Education program where elementary to high schoolers can learn to play the gayageum, and there are always a lot of kids who take the course,” Yoon said. “Our orchestra also has around 20 members, which I think is a pretty large number considering the gayageum is not as popular an instrument as the piano or violin.”

The Soyul Gayageum Orchestra was invited in September to perform at Carnegie Hall by a company of Korean classical singers who organized the recital to promote their artists at the venue and promote Korean culture. Out of the many people in the orchestra, Yoon was selected as one of the four people who played at Carnegie Hall.

“To be honest, playing at Carnegie Hall was a lot less overwhelming than I expected, mainly because the performance was held in the Weill Recital Hall, which has a smaller stage, and not that many people were in the audience,” Yoon said. “However, I still felt more pressure than I normally would because even though our performance showcased the gayageum, it was to promote another group of artists and I felt that if I messed up I would ruin their recital.”

Yoon also finds more joy in performing in a group setting for an audience, rather than in solo performances.

“I usually play with other people... but I also play solo in competitions… I like playing with my orchestra the most. We are assigned different arrangements of a song, so when we play as an ensemble, all the melodies and sounds come together, and I always enjoy listening to the music we make,” Yoon said. “I think it is also more fun with an audience, so performing is also something I really enjoy about playing gayageum.”

On Saturday, Nov. 12, Yoon placed first at the 8th World Competition of Korean Traditional Performing Arts in the high school division. Yoon plans on competing in more solo competitions and for more performances with the KTMIA and fostering new connections with her culture and her community.