Violinist Choi Ye-eun's Blooming Musicality

This is the seventh in a series of interviews with the next generation of classical musicians - Korea Times

``I couldn’t put it down,’’ Choi Ye-eun told The Korea Times about playing the violin for the first time at age seven. ``The violin felt alive. It was like a friend,’’ said the 19-year-old, a rising young star in Korea and Germany. /Courtesy of Choi Ye-eun

Violinist Choi Ye-eun is the very image of a flower. When the smiling, petite 19-year-old met with The Korea Times, she was pretty in pink and constantly fiddling the rose sitting before her on the table. But her powerful stage presence is far from dainty and frail _ she’s more like a strong and vibrant sunflower. Deeply rooted in fertile lands, she lets nature take its course, allowing her pure love and passion for music naturally guide her growth.

``I never consciously thought, `I am going to become someone,’ nor did I systematically participate in competitions. It all came quite naturally,’’ said Choi. One of the most promising talents to emerge from Korea and Germany in recent years, she was named one of the ``Emerging Artists of 2007’’ by the American Symphony Orchestra League.

After studying under Kim Nam-yun, Choi currently works with Ana Chumachenko in Munich with the support of the Anne-Sophie Mutter Foundation. The violinist is in town to appear as soloist for the Kent Nagano-helmed Montreal Symphony Orchestra this weekend.

This will be her second time performing with the Canadian orchestra. The first was when she was 15, as the youngest ever winner of the 2003 Montreal International Musical Competition. This was not long after winning second prizes at the 2002 Tchaikovsky Competition for Young Musicians and the 2003 Leopold-Mozart concours.

``I love the stage, and thought of competitions as just another chance to be onstage,’’ said Choi, who debuted at the age of 10 with the Seoul Philharmonic. ``I chose to enter concours based on the repertoire. If I enter a competition, the preliminary rounds are like recitals where I can play beautiful concertos.’’

Born in Seoul, Choi grew up in Seosan, South Chungcheong Province. She began playing the violin at the relatively late age of seven. She had been playing the piano since five, but instantly fell in love with the violin.

``I couldn’t put it down. It was playtime for me. I’d hurry finishing up my schoolwork so I could play with the violin,’’ she smiled. ``I never felt the piano ‘spoke’ to me, but the violin felt alive. It was like a friend,’’ said Choi, who never left her ``best friend’’ unguarded that day at the buffet lunch. The Kumho Asiana Cultural Foundation’s Free Instrument Bank sponsors Choi’s Giuseppe Guadagnini.

Unlike many parents who zealously push talented children to practice on end, Choi’s family was, initially, not fully supportive. Her father, an engineer at Samsung Group, and mother, a former schoolteacher, were avid fans of classical music, but they thought the life of an artist would be too tough.

It was her violin teacher who insisted the eight-year-old Choi pursue music more seriously. ``She declared to my parents that she’d give up if I fail the junior audition for the Korea National University of Arts. But I made it,’’ she said.

Since then, she simply practiced for her own pure joy and also because she loved her teachers so much. Germany became her second home by chance, when a manager from the Anne-Sophie Mutter Foundation noticed her in a local festival in 2005 and recommended her to Anne-Sophie herself.

``It was a perplexing audition. I was given one month to practice Beethoven, Mozart, Tchaikovsky and Schostakovich concertos as well as Ravel, Beethoven and Debussy sonatas. But at the session I was asked to play Bach,’’ she said. The Foundation awarded the young artist a scholarship and continues to support her.

``After I went to Germany, however, I began to think I should have more concrete plans. But my teacher (Ana Chumanchenko) said life doesn’t work out as planned. You just go with the flow, like a river, occasionally bumping into rocks and taking opportunities that come by.

``My love and passion for music, and pursuing that love and passion, are my energy source,’’ she said, emphasizing the importance of music being an end rather than a means to achieve other things. ``I don’t want to become a commercial artist.

``I want to capture my own character in my music. Art is an expression, and I want to express all that I wish in my music. But what’s more important is to move the audience. I just supply the tools and it’s up to the audience to make their own interpretation,’’ she said.

``Professor Chumanchenko not only teaches me knowledge but directs my emotional and philosophical growth as well. I learn professionalism from Anne-Sophie Mutter, who is perfect in every way, from her looks to her roles as a mother, teacher and fellow musician,’’ she said. ``I wish to become an internationallrs y influential performer who can help those in need and also support young artists like (Mutter).’’

Choi has about two more years left before earning her diploma at Munchen Musik Hochschule. She said she feels at home in Germany, motherland to maestros like Beethoven. ``I love learning German, too. I think the tone and rhythm of German composers’ music are somewhat related with the phrasing of the German language,’’ she said.

The violinist will play with the Montreal Symphony at the Seoul Arts Center on Friday and Saturday. Call (02) 6303-1919. At the end of the month, she will be recording an album with other artists from the Anne-Sophie Mutter Foundation. She will return to Korea at the end of May to play with the zestful Kumho Asiana Soloists before spending the summer on European stages with Gidon Kremer and Yuri Bashmet.