Ria and The May 18 Memorial Foundation: Tongyeong International Music Festival (Spring Season, 2008)

Tongyeong International Music Festival (TIMF)
Spring Season, 2008

Tong Yeong is a small city with a population of 140 thousand. This city noted for sea food and music. When we arrived in Tong Yeong, we saw the beach and lot of restaurants that sell seafood. Every year Tong Yeong organizes the Tong Yeong International Music Festival (TIMF). This festival is organized by the Tong Yeong International Music Festival Foundation. This festival is conducted to Tong Yeong son’s of good musician and composer, Insang Yun. This year, TIMF will be presented three times. And for this spring season, TIMF will be held from March 21 until March 26, 2008. A lot of TIMF 2008 posters and banners are strategically located the streets. There were different kinds of music presented for the TIMF 2008, that includes Korean traditional music ensemble, classic, jazz, pop, and R&B. Everyone can choose what kind of music listen or concert to watch. The location for the event is not only in 1 (one) place, but also held in several places. The TIMF theme of this year is Freiheit, that means freedom. They choose this theme because they want to show the people that we can play instruments music on freedom and can be mixed with our expressions. Several kinds of music were performed including modern music. This compilation of modern music made the audience impressed and enjoyed the music. The audience and performers were not only from Tong Yeong, but also from other cities and countries. Presidents from other cities or countries will not only enjoy music, but also enjoy seafood which is popular in the place.
On Friday night, we watched a Flute concert at the Citizens Cultural Hall (Small Hall). The instruments player were Claude Lefebvre (Flute), Sangah Nah (Flute), and Minjeong Jeong (Piano). We watched about for an hour. Claude was from Germany, she played so good because she have lot of experiences. Sangah Nah was born in Paris, and learned music in that country. Sangah Nah is still very young, she was born in 1985. Minjeong played piano, she made the Flute music playing more lively. The audience were mostly adults. Since it was late performance, the audience not many. Many chairs were empty.
On the Saturday afternoon, we had a conference with the general manager of Tong Yeong International Music Festival Foundation, Yong Min Lee. After the meeting, we saw pop, R&B, and Korean traditional music ensemble in one of their small halls, i was really impressed when i saw the Korean traditional music ensemble, because they mixed the music with jazz and another kind music. I didn’t get bored listening to their music. There were 4 (four) player, who call them selves Arayun. The audiences were mostly students, who enjoyed the show. On the same afternoon, we also watched the Parker String Quartet. There were 4 (four) players: Daniel Chong (Violin), Karen Kim (Violin), Jessica Bodner (Viola), and Kee-Hyun Kim (Cello). They played their instruments so inspired. When they were finished, the audiences clapped to loud that they played again. So, the musicians played 1 (one) bonus song. I was really impressed when i saw them played.
Classification of music and location were good ideas, but it can create a select audience. For classic music, a higher ticket price will discourage a larger of people to watch the concert. Mostly people will prefer music and place that is free. But TIMF generally, i consider this event a success. I really enjoyed the show.