“지난 20년간 활동을 뒤돌아보며 새삼 ‘나 진짜 열심히 살았구나’, ‘1년도 거르지 않고 열심히 활동했구나’ 하는 생각이 들면서 감회가 새롭더라고요.”
올해로 가수 데뷔 20주년을 맞은 ‘K팝의 원조’, ‘아시아의 별’, K팝 해외 진출 1호인 보아(34)가 8월 25일 포털사이트 네이버의 ‘V라이브’ 생방송에서 “가수로만 스무 살이 됐다”며 “어떻게 보면 이제 막 가수로 성인이 된 것”이라고 했다는 보도다.
아, 우리 모두 이처럼 ‘사랑의 무지개 타고(Arainbow of Love )’ 이 지구별에 잠시 놀러 온 우주인 ‘코스미안(Cosmian)’들의 시금석, 뛰어남의 모범, 패러곤(paragon)이자 이 시대를 바라보는 새로운 관점 패러다임(paradigm)을 제시하고, 행복을 누릴 수 있는 흥(興)마당 파라다이스(paradise)를 제공하는 롤모델(role model) 아닌가.
우리 모두 각자도 이 지구별 소풍이 끝나 우주의 다른 별나라로 떠날 때 보아처럼 ‘나 진짜 잘 놀았구나’[‘열심히 살았구나’란 말을 바꿔 풀이(paraphrase)해서] 감회가 깊도록 말이어라. 공교롭다고 할까 신기하다고 할까, 우연의 일치일지 몰라도, 코로나 팬데믹으로 신음하고 있는 미국에 한국의 ‘흥’을 알리고 전파할 국악 그룹 온라인 공연이 열린다는 보도다.
미 최대 유대인 문화재단인 ‘스커볼 문화센터(Skirball Cultural Center)는 2020년 8월 29일 한국 국악 그룹 ‘악단광칠’을 초청해 온라인 공연(포스터)을 개최한다고 25일 LA한국문화원이 밝혔다. 스커볼 문화센터는 하계 정기 콘서트 프로그램에 ‘악단광칠’을 초청해 라이브 공연을 열 계획이었으나 신종 코로나바이러스 감염증(코로나19) 사태를 고려해 온라인 행사로 전환했다고 한다.
2015년 결성된 ‘악단광칠’은 젊은 소리꾼과 전통악기 연주자 등 9명으로 구성된 국악 그룹인데 지난 1월 뉴욕의 국제음악 축제인 ‘글로벌 페스트’에서 어깨를 들썩이게 하는 역동적인 공연을 펼쳐 뉴욕타임스(NYT)와 공영 라디오 NPR의 호평을 받았었다.
공연은 유튜브 채널 (www.yuoutube.com/user/SkirballCulturalCtr)을 통해 29일 오후 8시부터 무료로 진행된다고 한다. 스커볼센터는 이번 공연을 위해 순두부 샐러드, 배추김치, 감자볶음, 대구간장조림, 갈비찜 등 한식을 주제로 한 만찬을 준비 중이며, 사전에 예약한 고객들에게 유료 픽업 서비스를 제공할 예정이라고 한다.
그런가 하면 그룹 방탄소년단(BTS)이 글로벌 섬머송을 만들어 전 세계 차트에 ‘다이너마이트’를 터뜨리며 신기록 행진을 이어가고 있다는 뉴스다. 방탄소년단이 지난 21일 공식 유튜브 채널에 올린 싱글 ‘다이너마이트(Dynamite)’ 뮤직비디오는 12시간 만에 2억 뷰를 달성, 종전 2억 뷰 달성 자체 기록이었던 ‘작은 것들을 위한 시’ (11일 19시간 42분보다) 무려 1주일 이상 단축했고, 블랙핑크 ‘How You Like That’의 7일 기록을 앞당겨 세계 신기록을 수립했다고 한다.
음악 전문 외신 NME는 “방탄소년단이 암울했던 2020년을 이겨 낼 여름 노래를 선사했다. 삶이 힘들 때 일종의 현실도피의 역할을 했던 디스크 장르의 전통을 고수하면서 디스크의 밝고 전염성 있는 사운드를 캐내서 즐거운 에너지를 사방에 전달하고 있다”고 분석했다.
2016년12월 30일 내가 만으로 80세가 되던 날 내 둘째 딸 수아(秀兒)가 이메일로 보내준 다음과 같은 글을 ‘교육’에 관심 있는 독자들과 나누고 싶어 아래와 같이 옮겨 본다.
December 30th, 2016
Dearest Dad,
I’m so glad this was published just in time for your 80th birthday!
I hope that you will enjoy reading my chapter on value… you feature quite a lot - and I’m truly grateful for everything that you are, and all the values you have taught me. You are the true reason that I am what I am today.
Huge love,
Su-a
The following was originally published in 2016 by lulu.com. It was Su-a’s contribution to a collection of essays entitled ‘Speaking of Values” compiled by Emma Fossey, Director of Reporting for Business; Neil McLennan, a speaker, author, former education manager, and Director of Leadership Program of the University of Aberdeen; and Gary Walsh, an education consultant, freelance facilitator, project manager, and researcher.
Boundaries
Our values provide the backbone to our lives. If we didn’t have values, we couldn’t make sensible progress, or have much stability.
I think of values as a system of setting our personal boundaries: like creating our own set of principles that lets us know how far we can go and what is morally acceptable. Much of this comes from family.
I have two sisters and we are very close in age (all three of us within two years and eleven months). We emigrated from South Korea to the UK when we were all babies. My father was away from home for work between Monday and Friday, and only home for weekends.
My mother was, therefore, mostly alone with three very young children to look after, in a country that was completely foreign in terms of culture, language and pretty much everything. She had no friends or family to turn to for advice or backup. Even running of milk was difficult. If there had only been two of us, she could have tucked one under each arm and carried us to the local shop, but because there were three of us, that was not an option. The necessity for some element of control meant that our parents were quite strict.
I vividly remember one early boundary of obedience being set. We were very excited about acquiring our first TV. It was a small square set with coat-hanger antennae sticking out of the back of it, which used to sit on top of a cardboard box. The three of us would love to lie on our stomachs as close as possible to it. This particular weekend, my Dad called us for dinner and got progressively frustrated when we ignored him completely. By the third time of asking, he threatened us, “If you don’t join us for dinner now, I am throwing the TV out!” We still didn’t move, and true to his word, the TV was duly thrown out! We never replaced the TV and I never had one since.
We also learned how to give and take from an early age. My mother often retells a story about a time when my sisters I were fighting over a toy. My mother said to us, “If you can’t settle this peacefully and learn to share, then none of you gets it!” This must have struck a chord with me because I immediately responded by saying, “It’s fine. Song-a (my little sister) can have it. I will have it after- ward.” Early lessons in the benefit of sharing.
I remember these moments as experiences that taught us a kind of obedience, but we also learned that once the goal-posts were set by our parents, they wouldn’t move. I feel that without a clear sense of boundaries being set for young people, life can get very confusing. I suppose that these boundaries help us to create our values and this starts from a really early stage.
While it is true that there are many more grey areas of “good and bad” for adults, when you are a child it’s a bit more black and white. I feel that it is important and helpful for children to have clarity about what is acceptable and what is not; a clear sense of definition that can be source of guidance. I feel lucky that I grew up with a fairly clear sense of boundaries, instilled by my parents.
Instinct, independence, passion
I am not a very good forward planner. I’ve never made New Year’s resolutions. I make a lot of decisions based on how it feels at that particular moment, as the future is unknow- able. If I need to make a choice, often it isn’t so much about good or bad but more about how each decision will feel afterward and whether it’s “safe to be bold.” My decisions and values are very instinctive; some of them might be based on feelings of fear or danger, but I can rationalize them in the moment due to feeling pretty grounded in myself. I am often motivated by desire to make a group of people happy and I tend to think of this bigger picture.
As a teenager, I was very much aware of rules. I understood the need to have them in place but felt that I could break them if I did so responsibly and for the right reasons. Some of this desire for independence and freedom comes from my time at Chetham’s Music School, a specialist music boarding school right in Manchester’s city center. My sisters and I all studied there.
At “Chet’s” I made my own rules. I didn’t break the school rules to be naughty or anti-establishment. I just wanted to feel autonomous and free. Sometimes, for instance, when living in a boarding house was too much for me, I would borrow camping equipment from the school and go off on my own. I would take the train and stay overnight in the countryside, in Places like Edale in the Peak District, for example. Of course, it was totally ridiculous, but I didn’t feel like I was doing anything very “bad.” I just wanted some freedom and to do something on my own. I also knew that I’d never get permission to do such things but that they were good for my soul. I still have that need for freedom today.
I was initially given a violin to play because my older sister was playing one, but to be honest, I hated it. I couldn’t hold the weight of it, it hurt my arms and it was an utterly horrid sound and experience! However, after a couple of weeks, I heard a piece on the radio (it was “The Swan”) played on the cello. and immediately, I said I wanted to play that.
Luckily, the brother of our violin teacher, Derek Williams, was an amateur cellist, Viv Williams, and he agreed to teach me. The only cello available to me was borrowed from a school, and I could only use it on a Saturday morning when Derek ran a string group. I would scrape away there, then be whisked out for twenty minutes to have individual time with Viv. I was much smaller than average for an eight-year-old and the cello was a particularly huge instrument for me, but I instantly fell in love with it.
I wasn’t allowed to take it home during term time, but I remember the first time I was allowed to take it home for a week’s school holiday…it was epic! The first day, I played away at this huge cello for six hours, refusing to come to the table even for dinner because I was seven-year-old in love. Luckily my dad didn’t throw this object out!
I’ve come to the conclusion that if you love doing some-thing, you will do it without effort. I have had the question about “talent” put to me many times. Is somebody born talented or does it develop? I believe that anybody can learn to play an instrument. I really do. I don’t think that people are necessarily born with a talent to play a particular instrument. For me, it comes down to whether you love it enough to be patient with it I think you can learn most things, such as hearing music effectively, if you really want to. To have a sense of fine-tuning, you need to have the desire, stamina, and patience to do it.
I remember struggling to play things in tune, trying to find whole and half tone intervals and then discovering the myriad possibilities even within the half tone. It really was a training of the ear, not just of the fingers. I am still thinking about this now, especially with the different tuning of ethnic cultures around the world.
Taking an interest to the “nth” degree only happens if you are passionate about and love what you are doing. There has to be some kind of emotional connection to ensure that you keep going. If I didn’t completely love it, I am sure I would have given up out of sheer frustration, Some people might be able to persevere because of a desire to make a “success” of it, but it’s different for me.
I sometimes feel that the education system, particularly the way we train musicians, encourages people more towards notions of success and perfection, and I don’t necessarily believe in that. I can identify with musicians who tell stories about being “sick with fear.”
My sister, for instance, had a panic attack, hyperventilated and dropped her bow in her final recital at Oxford University. She immediately developed a small and contained area of vitiligo on that bowing arm which she still has to this day. We all have the propensity to feel that fear, but I think it is the role of the education system to prevent that from happening, to boost self-confidence and to foster a continued love of what you are doing.
The only time I remember questioning my future in music was when I was sixteen and faced with the decision of planning what to do after school. To be honest, all I wanted to do was play the cello but at that stage, I began to wonder, “What if I can’t do this? What if I chopped my finger off or had an accident that prevented me from doing it?”
The only other thing that I was passionate about at that time was cooking. During school holiday, I would cook and experiment every day with vegetarian food for my whole (non-vegetarian) family. While I would have always wanted music to play a part in my life, I thought for a while about becoming a chef. I dreamed about opening a vegetarian café in Paris that offered live chamber music, as Paris in the ‘80s was fairly barren for vegetarians.
I still love cooking but I think that I would have found it very stressful because of the need to “perform,” and I didn’t necessarily want to cook every meal for every day of my life at a consistently high level under pressure.
The same stress is also relevant for musicians, but being part of an orchestra has the advantage of being very much a collective performance and there is a lot of energy from your colleagues to maintain that consistency and drive.
Friendship, community spirit, connecting with people and the next generation
Unlike some of my colleagues who have said that they were ostracized through learning music as a child. I never found this to be the case. There may be reasons for this: first, I was playing to around Grade 6 standard after a year so had I progressed quite quickly (as had my violin-playing sisters); second, my family emigrated to Hawaii within a few months of my playing because of my father’s job situation; and third, our teachers, Derek and Viv, had an uncle who taught history at Chet’s, which is how we became aware of the school’s existence. Viv’s wife Frankie, who is a force of nature, persuaded my parents to bring us back to England after six months to audition for Chet’s. Frankie accompanied us to Manchester, my sisters and I making a secret pact if one of us didn’t get in then none of us would go. But we all got places, and Frankie secured full scholarships for us all through the Leverhulme Trust.
So, I think that thanks to a combination of traveling, fairly fast progress on the cello, and very shortly afterward going to a specialist music boarding school where all my friends were musicians, I didn’t have time to feel ostracized.
Because I lived in a small community from a young age-I had just turned nine when I went to Chet’s-I think I have a strong sense of what feels good and bad for me as well as for those around me. At school, we had to deal with many social behaviors: some good, some bad. The good side was nurturing, fun, creative, and supportive. The bad side was frightening and I witnessed bullying, fighting, and personality clashes. As a result, throughout my life, I always want every situation to be good one for everybody involved. If you are not happy as a group of performers, you are not going to play your best. You can‘t play together if you are not literally and metaphorically on the same page.
This can be difficult to manage sometimes, particularly in small chamber groups where the relationships are particularly intense. Because of the nature of what we do, our radars are overly active and alert, and therefore very likely to overact! In an orchestra, everybody knows each other intimately; you can often predict how people are going to respond and must be prepared for them to be irrational!
Musicians would not be in the business if we didn’t have an audience, and music wouldn’t have a future if we didn’t engage with the next generation. These are huge motivators. I grew up in the youth orchestra system, which is such a great experience. Joining a youth orchestra is like having a whole new world open up and discovering a new way of engaging with people. This engagement gives us so much new material for our developmental progress.
As well as being completely terrifying for all sorts of reasons, it is so much fun. I remember going to see my older sister, Hae-a, playing in our county youth orchestra for the first time. I worried my parents because I had gone backstage with Frankie during the interval and hadn’t reappeared for the second half. Imagine their astonishment when they noticed on stage, at the back of the cello section, a tiny pair of dangling legs that could only have been mine. I had wanted to join in the fun. That was my first experience of playing in the youth orchestra. I then progress through the Bedfordshire County Youth Orchestra as well as the National Children’s Orchestra.
I started coaching youth orchestra myself when I was nineteen. Since then, they have been a constant thread throughout my career, being involved as I have been in youth orchestras all over the UK.
While I was studying at the Julliard School in New York, I was involved in coaching the Iceland Youth Orchestra. We got together three times a year, for a fortnight course each time, for a period of three years. We took on some hefty programs as there was lot of time for thorough sectional coaching, and although they might start barely being able to play the notes, by the end they sounded like a professional orchestra. There was no time pressure, and we got the chance to really bond. Aged nineteen myself, I wasn’t that much older than most of them so that probably helped.
For most young people taking part, it is their first real experience of “community spirit.” I remember how that felt for me when I started. The skills you build in a youth orchestra, having to be aware of the people around you and appreciating the fact that it’s not all about your own part, are valuable social skills for life.
As a coach, for instance, I will often give practical advice to young people on how to be a good desk partnerㅡhelping each other to write notes on the music, how to turn pages while performing, organizing the height of the music stand, giving each other enough space and so on. There are so many ways to help each other.
Having gone through the youth orchestra system myself, it is such a privilege to support the next generation to do the same. When I am coaching, I want the process to be fun but disciplined. I can be quite strict, but only in a musical way and it is always fun. That is the balance I strive to achieve as a coach.
This attitude also affects the work I do in my job in the orchestra. On the concert platform we have moved away from wearing formal concert dress such as tails, but I think we could go much further. Connecting the audience is incredibly important, and I feel there is so much that we can do and that I can learn from my experiences with young people to help achieve that.
This connection is sometimes as simple as chatting to people after a concert or just showing an interest. I am a “people person” in many ways. People are my religion, so to speak, in that they are what I believe in. I am intrigued to find out why people have come to a particular event or what their experience with music has been. Audience members will often come to me after a performance to share how much they enjoyed the event or how it made them feel. Some even tell me that they come just to see what color my hair is! So I feel that, on whatever level, there is a genuine personal connection with audience.
I know that it makes a difference in people’s lives. Once an elderly gentleman in Aberdeen came to me after a Subscriber’s Concert, which is a special chamber concert that we invite regular subscribers to, free, as a loyalty bonus. He had attended the concert and was quite emotional. He gave me a gift of a necklace that had belonged to his wife, who had always come particularly to see me play. She had sadly passed away. This is connection on a very deep level and I was overwhelmed by the beauty and bravery of the gesture.
These personal connections make the whole experience richer because you know that people are enjoying it and feel connected to it. In the moment of performance, I am focused on the musicㅡbut it certainly makes a difference to have that level of feedback and connection with people around you.
During the past twenty years, alongside my life as an orchestral cellist, I have been incredibly lucky also to have an alternative musical outlet for connecting with audiences and artists from across the musical divides. This is through our band Mr. McFall’s Chamber, of which I am a founding member. It started in 1996 as a renegade splinter group from SCO (The Scottish Chamber Orchestra), presenting classical music to the midnight, underground nightclub scene. Our mission was to experiment, collaborate and break down barriers.
In terms of broadening horizons, building bridges with other art disciplines, creating new worlds and exploring other cultures, this band has meant a huge amount to me. We took some of the first steps towards bringing together folk, jazz, world musicians, as well as dancers, poets, and visual artists. It has allowed freedom of expression and the possibility to grow as an artist and a human being, and I believe we have slowly brought about a big change in the musical landscape of Scotland.
Conclusion
It has been illuminating for me to write this chapter because it has clarified many previously unexplored thoughts about how we shape our individual value systems. It is very clear to me that this process starts when we are extremely young and builds continuously on the ever-growing accumulation of experiences, like choosing which building blocks to use and deciding what shape of construction you want to build. Education and structure, as opposed to training and strictness, are absolutely paramount in this.
I feel very lucky having such inspirational parents, but not everyone is so fortunate. This is where I think the roles of education and its aficionados are so important. The school arena is where all children can experience community outside of the family and all the extremes of human nature that this presents. Of course, this is not limited to just school institution but extends to other educational or cultural communities. Experiencing these extremes in a safe environment is the best way to discover personal boundaries in a productive way.
Educational communities are also the best nurturing ground for sparking passions. Young children are naturally inquisitive because everything is new to them. It is vital that their developing passions are encouraged and that every child is made to feel confident and independent. This self-confidence and self-determination will give them the bravery to achieve whatever they wish to pour their hearts into.
I would like to conclude with an amusing anecdote. It is from my very first time coaching the Iceland Youth Orchestra and illustrates how travel, music, creativity, and fun all contribute to what can happen when you connect with people.
I arrived in Iceland on Boxing Day at the crack of dawn (although that’s a misnomer since, at that time of year, the sun never rises in Iceland! (Boxing Day is a holiday celebrated the day after Christmas Day, thus being the second day of Christmastide. It originated in the United Kingdom and is celebrated in a number of countries that previously formed part of the British Empire – Wikipedia)
I was being hosted by a family of five, whose eighteen-year-old daughter was playing violin in the youth orchestra. There were also a twelve-year-old daughter and a five-year-old-son.
Having apologized for getting them out of bed so early on Boxing Day, I tried to explain to the mother that I was a vegetarian and therefore didn’t eat meat or fish. I hastened to add that I didn’t want to inconvenience them by expecting them to cook expensive vegetables, so I said I would just eat what they ate but that because it was not my normal fare, I hoped for their understanding. The mother, with a wicked glint in her eye, took this as the go-ahead to try to tempt me with all their Icelandic specialties, such as raw, rotten shark (which is buried underground as part of the preparation process), seared sheep’s head with eyes and tongue gouged out, blood pudding and puffin! I was most definitely not compliant!
When it became clear that on New Year’s Day they would prepare me a “special meal,” I was dreading it. When the time came, I was almost trembling, seeing their palpable excitement. They dimmed the lights and wheeled in the meal on a trolley. It had one of these huge silver butler cloches on it. They asked me, as their guest of honor, to present it. After a long, deep breath I whipped off the cloche and then screamed my (own) head off! What I had revealed staring up at me, was the head of their twelve-year-old daughter on the platter, surrounded by vegetables!
After my initial terror, I found it monstrously funny. They enjoyed telling me how they had even cut a hole in their sideboard to perform this wicked practical joke. I am still in touch with the family and I see them regularly even today.
Music knows no boundaries; it simply brings people together.
Editor’s Note:
Korean born cellist Su-a Lee is one of the highlights of the Scottish music scene. Feted wherever she goes, she stands out for her versatility, popularity, and appetite for musical adventure. Born in Seoul, Su-a trained at Chetham’s School of Music, completing her studies at the Juilliard School in New York. On graduating with her degree, she moved to Scotland to join the Scottish Chamber Orchestra, where she remains as Assistant Principal Cello.
While she is deeply rooted in her Scottish home, Su-a and her cello have appeared all over the world, from South America to Artic Circle. As well as performing in the world’s major concert halls, you are just as likely to find them in such unorthodox and interesting location such as Japanese temples, circus tents, and waterfalls.
Although Su-a spends most of her time playing classical music, she is very much in demand across a wide musical spectrum, working in all art forms. She has played for theatre, dance and film projects, and performs and records regularly with Scotland’s jazz and folk stars. Over the summer 2015, she spent six months studying and collaborating with musicians from across the globe, incorporating genres of folk, classical, Arabic, Celtic, Swedish and Eastern traditions. Her non-classical work has included recording on her Musical Saw for Eric Clapton and performing at Celtic Connections with Jack Bruce of Cream and the folk band Lau, to improvisatory work with Belgian theatre group Reckless Sleepers and a tour of India with the Sarod maestro, Amjad Ali Khan.
Su-a is also a founder member of the innovative music ensemble, Mr. McFall’s Chamber. Beginning in 1996 playing avant-garde string quartet music in late-night club venues, the group has just celebrated its 20th anniversary season and has grown to encompass an eclectic range of different traditions.
With a special passion for working with young musicians, Su-a regularly participates in SCO Connects education and community work, and recently toured a very successful series of performances for babies with Reeling and Writhing Theatre. She is Patron-in-Chief of the Perth Youth Orchestra, a regular coach for the National Youth Orchestra and Cambridge County Youth Orchestra. She is an Associate Member of the Martyn Bennett Trust and a Trustee for Board of Soundhouse Trust.
[이태상]
서울대학교 졸업
전) 코리아타임즈 기자
전) 코리아헤럴드 기자
현) 뉴욕주법원 법정통역관
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