Sadie Kolehmainen
Guests enjoy the Korean Composer Festival.
On Sept. 27, Boe Chapel was filled with music. The space is often home to weekly services and concerts, but this performance had a different sound — one that reflected the unique melodies of Korean and Korean diaspora composers.
The Korean Composers Festival featured two days of presentations from musicians and composers, followed by afternoon and evening performances. Saturday’s concert included the Manitou Singers, Chapel Choir and St. Olaf Choir, along with pianist April Ryun Kim, an associate professor of music at St. Olaf. Guest performers included Chee Hyeon Choi, Soojin Lee, Keoun Grace Lee, and the Kobayashi/Gray Duo of Laura Kobayashi and Susan Keith Gray, among others.
The concert offered a blend of tones, rhythms, melodies and cultures — from the jolting, celebratory energy of Fingerdance for Solo Piano by Jean Ahn to the contemplative Melancholy Hour by Hee Yun Kim. The hymnal yet driving rhythms of “Sanctus” and “Cum Sancto Spiritu” from Gloria Score — sung by the Manitou Singers and St. Olaf Choir, respectively — opened and closed the performance, offering new perspectives on traditionally Western works.
This was the second Korean Composers Festival organized by Kim. She said visibility for Korean and Korean American composers in both classical and contemporary music brings new styles, perspectives and expressions to the field, enriching the experience of musical artistry and expanding possibilities for future musicians.
More information on the festival can be found at koreancomposersfestival.org