The recital

was last night. I played at a lovely gem of a small recital hall called Mozart Hall. It seats about 170 people. New York should have more recital halls of this intimate size. The acoustic was lovely. Unlike American ones, Korean addresses do not give you all the information you need to find places, and street signs are not always easy to find, so trying to tell some colleagues how to get to the hall was quite a challenge!!

I played at 7:30, and did a playthru with the pianist earlier at 5pm. A friend from Philly Orch was able to attend the playthru and listen for balance and whether the piano lid should be full or half stick. Very, very helpful. Playthru felt super comfortable and relaxed. Recital, as you imagine, was more stressful, although everyone tells me how calm I looked. The place was actually sold out, full of Korean flute-playing youngsters. They were very quiet and attentive. In the contemporary piece I played, when the first very high, very loud note came, everyone kind of jumped. I spoke about one of the pieces, and had my former student join me onstage for translation. She might have been more nervous for translating than for playing with me on the last piece!!

After the concert, there was lots of milling around in the lobby area. People gave me flowers, many wanted their picture taken with me, I signed lots of posters. I felt just a tiny bit like a rock star. It was pretty fun.

Then about 8-10 of us headed for a chic restaurant and had red wine, gourment pizzas, and talked. I got home at 11:45, and was more tired than I thought possible.

Today I teach starting in an hour, pretty much all day, and then see friends from Orpheus Chamer Orch, who also happen to be here right now, for Korean barbeque.

I will write again soon.

I am here...

And what a first day here it was. I tried taking a flight with a bit of a quirky schedule, I left JFK at 1am Wed night, arrived here at 4am a day and a half later, with the time change. Pretty good plan to have a full day here, but it only works if you can sleep on the airplane, which is very hard for me.

I was met at the airport by my former student who will join me on my recital, and her mother. We breakfasted on some great beef noodle soup at an open-24-hour place, along with kimchee and the usual sides. Then it was only 6:30am so I went back to their home, and crashed for a while. Then, I practiced, and hooked up with friends from Philadelphia Orchestra, who happen to be touring in Asia and performing here this week. So we visited a Korean palace in downtown, and then had terrific Taiwanese lunch with amazing soup dumplings, and noodles. Then I was whisked away by Bohee and her Mom, through dreadful Seoul traffic, to meet up with SoYoung Lee, the flutist who has brought me over here for the trip.

We reviewed my schedule, and then I rehearsed briefly with the pianist for the recital. Next were two students, both lovely and fun to teach. One studying the CPE Bach solo sonata, the other the Burton Sonatina, which I will play on my concert. Then, I was taked to dinner at the home of a Korean flute student who is studying in Philadelphia, and I was joined by two of the flutists from the Philadelphia Orchestra!! So it was a great day of connecting with friends, the musical world being full of such friendships. And there we were, only 6800 miles from home!!

I will write more soon,
BART

Welcome!!

Hello friends. I am off to Korea on May 27, for a week of playing and teaching. I thought it would be fun to blog about my trip from over there, trying to give a "real-time" feel to my adventures.

This would be the first post, just to set the scene. I first visited and worked in Korea one year ago, teaching for a week in a "flute store". Flute is so big in Korea, entire stores are devoted just to selling flutes, flute music, CDs, and bringing in guests. I had a wonderful time, hearing so many talented players, and eating great food!!

On this trip, I will perform a solo recital at Mozart Hall, teach a masterclass at Seoul National University, and give four days' worth of public masterclasses as well. On my recital, I will play works of Bach, Reinecke, Martin, Elliott Carter, and others, as well as have a former student join me for a "big finish" with the Doppler Andante and Rondo.

Over the years, I have taught many Korean flutists. I am struck by how serious and dedicated they are to music and the flute, and what hard workers they are. They seem eager and curious for feedback and information to improve their playing.

After the 14-hour flight (!!), I will jump right into piano rehearsals for the recital and the first batch of teaching. I will write again as sooon as I can after I arrive.

Thanks for reading!! Feel free to post comments.

Cheers,
BART