Group Girls' Generation member and actress Seohyun drew criticism over preferential treatment after news broke that she would perform with an orchestra just five months after beginning violin studies, and a current university music professor issued a sharp rebuke.
Seohyun will appear as a special soloist at the Sol Philharmonic Orchestra's 8th regular concert, held at 8 p.m. on March 13 at Lotte Concert Hall in Songpa District, Seoul. In this performance, Seohyun will play Vittorio Monti's famous piece "Csárdás," a work in which intense rhythms and plaintive melodies intersect, offering audiences the charms of classical music.
Seohyun's participation came about because she sympathized with the purpose of the Sol Philharmonic Orchestra, which is composed not of professional performers but of people who love classical music. It is said she decided to collaborate in order to lower the barrier to classical music by appearing on stage herself and hoping more of the public will become familiar with the genre.
Seohyun, a hobbyist who has learned the violin for only about five months, said she intends to show the pure passion of someone who sincerely enjoys music rather than the perfection of a professional performer.
But as the news spread, some reacted that it was preferential treatment for Seohyun, who has only learned for five months, to stand on a big stage like Lotte Concert Hall.
Regarding this, Jung-sook from the 13th season of I'm SOLO said she received a question asking, "There have been reactions that Seohyun's collaboration causes major players to feel disillusioned; even if you label her a nonmajor, is that a matter that could be dismissed?" and posted on her social media, "I've been getting direct messages nonstop since yesterday about Seohyun's collaboration, and I've long thought a lot about the ultra-conservative elements in the classical world, so I'm going to give them a piece of my mind."
Jung-sook said, "I really don't know what the problem is. The orchestra is probably made up of amateurs to begin with, and how much practice would Seohyun have done just to be on stage? If it's a hobby, that's even more impressive," and added, "Some people may be attending a classical collaboration for the first time because of Seohyun's ticket power and visiting Lotte Concert Hall for the first time — isn't that exactly the popularization of classical music?"
She especially emphasized, "The capitalist market is governed by the laws of supply and demand," and added, "Thinking that only the music we perform is royal and that only the orthodox course is correct is quite anachronistic."
She also said, "Lotte Concert Hall has 2,000 seats. Even if they set one up here for free, not just anyone can get up and perform on that platform," and added, "Don't belittle others' efforts; live a life focused on your own."
Jung-sook of the 13th season is an elite organist who graduated with unanimous top marks from the highest artist diploma program at the Munich University of Music and Performing Arts in Germany, and after earning her master's and doctoral degrees in Germany she returned to teach students as an adjunct professor at a university.
[Photo] KKUM ENT
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