In Conversation: Pianists and 2023 Cliburn Junior Competitors Saehyun Kim 김세현 (16) and Seokyoung Hong 홍석영 (15)

Jun 11

Note from the editor: the interview was conducted before the competition. Seokyoung Hong went on to win the first prize and the audience award. Congratulations!

The Third Cliburn International Junior Piano Competition and Festival for pianists aged 13 to 17 is taking place 8 – 17 June 2023 in Dallas, Texas. The competition has quickly established itself as one of the most prestigious international piano competitions for young pianists, not least thanks to the reputation of its “older sibling,” the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition for 18- to 30-year-old pianists, which was established in 1962 in honour of the legendary American pianist Van Cliburn. At age 23, the young Texan had amazed the world with a surprise win at the first International Tchaikovsky Competition for pianists held in Moscow in 1958.

Out of the 248 young pianists from forty-four countries who submitted online applications for the 2023 Cliburn International Junior Piano Competition and Festival, twenty-four competitors were selected to compete against each other in four rounds. An additional fourteen participants were chosen to participate in the festival. TWoA talked to two of the talented young pianists competing at the competition: Seokyoung Hong 홍석영 (15) and Saehyun Kim 김세현 (16). Both Saehyun and Seokyoung are from Seoul, the capital of South Korea, and attended Yewon School before moving to Massachusetts in the United States in 2021 and 2022 to study piano with HaeSun Paik at the New England Conservatory Preparatory School. Both are also students at the Walnut Hill School for the Arts. Saehyun’s time in the United States has already yielded four competition wins in the United States. He is also a Lang Lang International Music Foundation Young Scholar and will be competing at the 8th Sendai International Music Competition this June as its youngest participant. Read on to find out about their lives in Korea and the United States, and to hear about the inspiring power of individualism. Looking for some practical advice on the triple challenge of practicing, performing and competing? Then go to our second part of the interview. You might even find out something about the beauty of clouds.

Experiencing Different Cultures

TWoA: Why did you decide to move?

Saehyun: That’s a good question (smiles).

Seokyoung: It was a huge decision which was made by our whole family. I wanted to experience another country and I had a good opportunity to study with a really great professor, so I came to the United States.

Saehyun: I think it’s the same for me. I also wanted to challenge myself in a different, broader community. Korean culture tends to be a bit competitive when it comes to the arts. I wanted to see how I would do in a different environment. I also wanted study with Mrs. Paik. It’s great to have her as a teacher.

TWoA: Both of you attended Yewon School in Seoul and are now studying at Walnut Hill School for the Arts. Both are schools for the arts, one in Korea, one in the United States. What’s similar, what’s different?

Saehyun: I think the only similarity is that they are both art schools. I think they are absolutely different. First of all, there are about 900 students in Yewon and there are only three grades at the school (it’s a middle school). Every grade is divided into eight classes, each class has about 35 students. It’s a big community. I think the difference between Walnut Hill is that at Walnut Hill they put more emphasis on being a unique artist, on being an individual. At Yewon, we almost always have to aim for the same goal. I think after I moved to Walnut Hill, I realised there are so many more different pathways artists can take. I think the mindset of people is quite different.

Seokyoung: I agree. When I was going to Yewon, it was the Covid era, so I didn’t really get to experience the whole community that much. But I think the basic idea is what Saehyun said: we aim for one goal as a whole community, while Walnut provides more opportunities to be a more unique artist.

New England Conservatory Preparatory School

TWoA: Your music theory, solfège and chamber music classes are at Walnut Hill, but your piano lessons are at the New England Conservatory (NEC), where you are both studying with HaeSun Paik. Mrs. Paik also moved from Korea to the United States to study at NEC with a Korean teacher, Wha Kyung Byun, and later with Russell Sherman. Mrs. Paik also attended Walnut Hill. So, there is a tradition of merging Korean and American culture in your piano teaching lineage. Tell us a bit about this combination of cultures. Is there a Korean school of teaching piano?

Saehyun: I think one of the good things about learning from a Korean teacher is probably that we are not part of any European culture. We are not German, we are not Russian, we are not French. I think when Koreans try to interpret Western classical music, we tend to have very rational viewpoints. But we don’t have a specific style. I think the Korean pianists at NEC are mostly affected by Mr. Sherman. And his student and his wife Wha Kyung Byun, who taught our teacher Mrs. Paik and many Korean students who came to NEC to study with Mr. Sherman. I don’t think there is a specific Korean school of piano teaching.

Korean Influences?

TWoA: There are classical musicians like the cellist Yo-Yo Ma who have been exploring the possibilities of cross-cultural collaboration in classical music. Did Korean national music play any role in your music education in Korea?

Seokyoung: When we study classical music in Korea, I personally didn’t have experience connecting that and Korean music. But sometimes, we use our imagination to use Korean experiences to express things in classical music. Not necessarily cultural memories, just Korean childhood memories.

Saehyun: I think we were very focused on Western classical music. Although, like Seokyoung said, we can use our imagination to apply some sounds of traditional Korean instruments and try to imitate them on the piano. That’s something we sometimes try to experiment with, but we don’t really try to merge those two.

Seokyoung: There are lots of Korean traditional percussion instruments that have really different sounds, so we can use that when we are trying to express some percussionistic sound on the piano.

Culture Shock as Inspiration

TWoA: What has been the most fun part of moving, what the most difficult?

Saehyun: I think the most fun part is being able to meet so many different people. Because in Korea, all my friends say: “Our goal is to become a soloist.” And we have fifty of those people. When I moved to Walnut Hill, I noticed that everyone has different ideas of what they want to do with their live. Some want to create their own path in arts, something very unique, very individual. I think it’s very interesting and inspiring to see how different people try to develop and improve as artists. The difficulty was maybe the cultural shock I got when I first came here. In Korea, when we go to school, we all wear the same school uniforms. We have rules about how we have to dress, what we should not do with our hair, there is not much freedom. The first impression I got when I first moved here was: everyone looks so different! There was so much information going inside my head. It was like just looking at black and white and then coming to the US, I see all these different colours. At first, I think it might have been overwhelming, but now I got used to it. The different aspects people have inspire me.

Seokyoung: The fun part is meeting all the time people. For me, the difficulty was the language barrier. Going to school in English was not that easy for me. Now I’m used to English, so it’s fine. The different culture was also kind of shocking to me: the fact that we have so much freedom. I thought: everyone can do whatever they want. There are rules here too, but it’s much freer.

A Regular Day: Korea vs the US

TWoA: What did a normal day look like for you in Korea, what does a normal day look like for you in the US?

Seokyoung: In Korea our school hours are much longer. Also, now I’m at boarding school, but when I was in Korea my home was far from the school. I think on a normal day in Korea I was practicing a little bit less. I would get up at about six or seven and get back home around 4 p.m. I would not get in that much practice. Basically, the time back home until I went sleeping, but excluding dinner. I would usually go to sleep at 1 am. The schedule is quite different here. Classes start at a similar time but end earlier. You have one class after lunch. Each day is different. In addition to the academic classes, we have one or two music classes per day. The rest of the day is practice. I have a lot more practice time here.

Saehyun: My parents moved with me, so I’m a day student at Walnut Hill. At Walnut Hill, academic classes end around lunch, or at the very latest at 1:50 p.m. After that we might have music theory. On days where we don’t have music theory or solfège it’s practice or rehearsing chamber music. It’s more flexible. Every day is different. In Korea, every single day classes would end at the same time. Also, back in Korea we had midterm and end of term exams. Here at Walnut Hill, we don’t. You write essays for classes. I’m a huge night owl, so I sleep at like 4 a.m. We always joke about this because my sleep schedule is really messed up. I sometimes sleep from 10 p.m. to 2 a.m. Then I wake up at 2 a.m. and then I start practicing because I think: “Oh my god, I slept at ten, I have to practice now!” I practice through to like 6 in the morning, and then I sleep again and then go to school.

TWoA: Any complaints from the neighbours?

Saehyun: There are no neighbours. My house is basically surrounded by trees and a lot of nature, sometimes some deer.

Parents

TWoA: What role have your parents played in your musical journey?

Saehyun: I think my case is quite unique because my family at first didn’t support my dream of becoming a pianist. Both my parents sort of wanted me to become a doctor or a lawyer, as many Asian families hope their kids to become one day. At first, they objected to the idea of me becoming a pianist. They thought it was very far-fetched. As I was practicing and competing in competitions, I had of course a lot of motivation, because I wanted to prove that I could become a pianist, a musician. But now, they do support me. They try to do everything they can to make me feel comfortable, feel confident and well fed (very important). They try their best.

Seokyoung: At first, I just started piano as a hobby, as a thing every kid goes through. But then I myself wanted to become a pianist. My mom supported it, but my dad was like: “No.” Now they do support me as parents, they support me to go to schools, even to move to the United States. My mom always goes to competitions with me. They help me psychologically. They are really supportive.

Don’t Worry about the Future

TWoA: So, what is your vision for your future in music?

Saehyun: That’s a very big question. I try not to control the future too much. When I was younger, I’m still young, but when I was younger, I always used to envision myself so successful, a concert pianist, everything. Now I try to go through each obstacle I face in my life. My overarching goal is just making music that will inspire other people, and give them new energy, new life; always being compassionate and making music that will touch the audience’s hearts. I think, that’s probably a goal for all musicians, but I think just making beautiful music at the moment, that’s my main goal.

Seokyoung: It’s similar for me. I used to think: I want to become a pianist going all around the world, winning the competitions. But now I just try to not really plan what I will do in the future. I just try to be present. I want to become a pianist who inspires. I want the audience to feel comfortable, or, to feel different things when they listen to my music.

Click here to read part II of our interview with Saehyun and Seokyoung.

Don’t want to miss future interviews with inspiring artists? Subscribe to our free newsletter or follow us on Instagram!