Seeing a Bigger Picture — by Yeesun Kim

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Seeing a Bigger Picture — by Yeesun Kim

As a young cellist, I gratefully accepted my teachers’ generous offers of bowings, fingerings and phrasing suggestions to many pieces I studied. These suggestions were well tested in numerous performances, were given thoughtful evaluation that took into account the personal convictions of many great musicians. At that time, I was not particularly in the habit of questioning and reasoning for myself. In a sense, other than what I HAD to contribute, I trusted that all this work would and should settle into a successful interpretation.

Since becoming the cellist of a professional string quartet (the Borromeo String Quartet), my attitude HAD to change completely. Now, it was not possible to participate in making music without evaluating ALL that was in the score. The pieces in the repertoire of the string quartet tend to count on a complex, interdependent and intricate interweaving of parts. It would be very difficult to navigate this texture without a very high level of understanding of all the parts. This is the beautifully attractive thing about string quartet music, but can also be a source of frustration. As a matter of course, score studying became a big part of my preparation in and out of rehearsals. I tried to write important information into my part but I could not escape the feeling that I still missed many things that were in the scores. Invariably, I would resort to what I THOUGHT I should be hearing and depended on this talent!

Fast forward few years….. A computer device called a FooTime surfaced in the market. It is a computer attachment device for turning pages by using a foot pedal. Finally here was a solution to score reading that was as basic as practicing scales. One can scan in ones’ own favorite editions or download scores from numerous internet sites. No more educated guesses about how things fit together: rhythmically (most obvious), dynamically (not always obvious) and harmonically (least obvious). The rehearsal process is a lot more enjoyable as we can discuss very specific details from a much grander perspective. I also feel that I can be more free and more flexible responding to all the layers of the score. Especially for learning contemporary scores, the FooTime has proven itself to be an invaluable asset, making rehearsals much more efficient and more importantly, creating confidence and calm with unfamiliar music.

Conductors and pianists have never been without full scores and yet, other instrumentalists have been in this rather compromising situation for a long time. And now it really is not necessary to be trapped in this situation.

I hope you will give it a try as I cannot stress enough the advantages of this new system!

See: www.bilila.com

By Yeesun Kim|2019-06-17T12:24:15-04:00March 15th, 2011|Categories: Beyond the Traditional, Chamber Music, In the Practice Room|Tags: Interpretation, Habits, Preparation, Kim, making music, rehearsals, fingerings, string quartet, success, suggestions, talent, Borromeo String Quartet, Yeesun, Conductors, Technology, confidence, device|

About the Author: Yeesun Kim

Hailed by the New York Times for her “focused intensity” and “remarkable” performances, cellist Yeesun Kim enjoys worldwide acclaim as a soloist, chamber musician and teacher. A founding member of the Borromeo String Quartet, Ms. Kim has performed in over 20 countries, in many of the world’s most illustrious concert halls and festivals.

Since making her orchestral debut at the age of 13 with the Korean Broadcasting Service Symphony, Ms. Kim has appeared at such premier venues as Carnegie Hall, the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, Jordan Hall in Boston, the Library of Congress and Kennedy Center in Washington, DC. Her international appearances have included performances throughout Europe and Asia, including the Philharmonie in Berlin, the Tonhalle in Zurich, the Opera Bastille in Paris, Wigmore Hall in London, the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, Suntory Hall and Casals Hall in Tokyo, and the Saejong Cultural Center in Seoul. Currently living in Boston, Ms. Kim enjoys returning to her native Korea, where she is frequently invited to perform as soloist with the Korean Symphony, give recitals and teach.

A much sought after chamber musician, Ms. Kim has performed at such festivals as Spoleto in the United States and Italy, Ravinia, Marlboro, Santa Fe, La Jolla, the Prague Spring Festival, the Vancouver Chamber Music, the Stavanger Festival in Scandinavia and the Evian and Divonne Festival in France. Her frequent collaborations with other artists have included appearances with Joshua Bell, Christoph Eschenbach, Leon Fleisher, Gary Graffman, Menahem Pressler, Rudolph Serkin, Russell Sherman, and Richard Stoltzman, In addition to her extensive concert schedule with the Borromeo Quartet, she has concertized with members of the Guarneri and Julliard String Quartets, and appears frequently as a member of the Pamela Frank-Yeesun Kim-Wu Han piano trio.

As a member of the Borromeo Quartet, Ms. Kim has been part of the Ensemble in Residence for NPR’s Performance Today and has had extensive involvement with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center’s Chamber Music Two Program. In this capacity, Ms. Kim has performed on all the series of the Chamber Music Society, including being featured on a “Live from Lincoln Center” broadcast. Her radio and television credits also include numerous appearances on WGBH in Boston, Radio France, and NHK Radio and Television in Japan.

A graduate of the Curtis Institute of Music, with advanced degrees from the New England Conservatory of Music, Ms. Kim currently serves on the faculty of the New England Conservatory in the cello and chamber music departments. Her teachers have included Minja Hyun, Hyungwon Chang, David Soyer and Lawrence Lesser.

Recipient of the Chamber Music America’s Cleveland Quartet Award and Lincoln Center’s Martin Segal Award as a member of the Borromeo Quartet, Ms. Kim has garnered numerous awards individually as well, including winner of the Ewha and Jungagng National Competitions in Korea, and the Seoul Young Artists Award for achievement in music and academics.

Ms. Kim plays a Peregrino Zanetto cello, circa 1576.