Season 3 Episode 14, Part 2: Dr. Jeeyoon Kim -- "Force of Nature," Concert Pianist, Art Activist, & Author

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You know, the most beautiful concert, or the most— I would not say perfect, but the most rewarding concerts, it's not last mistake concerts, but then the concerts that I felt the most engaged with the music, with myself and the music, and inevitably audience receive as well.

Welcome back to The Piano Pod with Yukimi Song. I am your host Yukimi Song. Thanks for tuning in for the second half of Season 3, Episode 14 with a guest, Dr. Ji Eun Kim. Hope you enjoyed Part 1 of this episode. In Part 2, we're going to tackle some philosophical topics like how do we define success as musicians and how can we keep the classical music industry thriving and relevant in this fast-paced society and more. Before continuing the show, I want to welcome everyone listening to The Piano Pod with Yukimi Song for the first time. I'm a classical pianist and educator from New York City, passionate about creating a thriving and meaningful community of the classical music industry through this podcast. Please visit yukimisongstudio.com to find out more about my work. In each episode of The Piano Pod with Yukimi Song, I interview a guest speaker who has been breaking exciting new ground in the industry. Please rate the show and review it on your favorite podcasting platform because every rating review will help people find my show. So, dear friends, here is Part 2 of The Piano Pod Season 3, Episode 14 with Dr. Jiyoung Kim. Please enjoy the show. You are listening to The Piano Pod where we talk to the brightest minds in the industry about how they are bringing the piano into the 21st century. And then I totally enjoyed reading your book, Whenever You're Ready. Actually, I knew of you from YouTube, you know, the one with the algorithms, and then it triggers, and I saw your video. But then afterwards, during the COVID time, I got an email from probably your publicist to reach out to me because we started the podcast, and then you just published the book, right? And then we didn't get to interview you till now. I didn't get to, but I was reading the book during that time and it was very, very good. And it's starting out sort of, you know, it's intended for all the readers, not just limited to pianists. So the way you're explaining, you know, this is like, this book is like movements of sonata and then it goes like this. And then in each chapter you have this sort of exercise for readers to do certain things. And then the first chapter, first few chapters were I mean, easy to read. Then it gets actually quite deeper, philosophical. And then I was able to reread again to just to prepare for this interview, and it was very encouraging. Can you tell me how this is structured and then what motivated you, what inspired you to write this book?

I think, you know, I mean, the "Whenever You're Ready" is where it comes from, is that every concert stage, often there's a stage manager holding that door to the stage and say, whenever you're ready. And then I look at that person and thinking, am I ready? Will I ever be ready? But then I'm thinking, dig deep in that moment and create a courage and strength within myself and make a decision to walk towards the stage. And that, in order to make that transition into the split second of 'Whenever you're ready' to 'Okay.' In order to make that transition, I have to do so many things on a daily basis. It's not just easy, 'Okay, I'm ready, go.' It's so much of a mind training, so much of how lifestyle reflects that decision-making. And so I wanted this book to be like a written concert. So that's why I structured it in such a way, the movements, Each movement deals with a different topic. In the first movement, about perseverance, discipline. And then about— second movement is negativity, and then creativity on the third movement. And fourth movement is about connection with oneself or others. And the fifth movement about the body itself, the environment. And then in between, there's intermission where I get to be a missionary of classical music again and talk about one of my favorite pieces. And there's a QR code there for them to go to listen to it, and then there's encore at the end. And what I was thinking is that whenever I prepare for a concert, it feels like preparing for a life. And I often think that we all have a stage called a life. Whenever we have a difficult phone call, when we have to face difficult decisions, difficult conversations, embark on something new, unknown. Life challenges us, but that very moment, like, you still, "Mm, I'm gonna do it." That "mm" is what I wanted to give, the sense of inspiration, those of strength to the readers in their performance of life. Whenever you are ready. And it's not like, go do it, but it's like, I'm giving you a moment, and so when you're ready, you go, but it's on you. For musicians, I think they get it because they live that. But most— more importantly, for other people, through the lens of classical musician, and by you going through my life, they realize "Oh, that is a life, that I do have a stage called life." So that I wanted this book to be not from someone who knows better or went through more, but more as a fellow friends and fellow human being who struggles as much. And as if we are sitting in a café, very friendly, light, but empathetic. Warm, honest, vulnerable so that we all go through this. It's not only you, me too, but this worked actually, this really helped. So that's why my voice is not dominant, but more of, hey, did you try that? It worked for me. Then you're like, you know, maybe many know many of these tools that I mentioned in the book already, but since because I say it, because you feel like I'm your friend, you think like, oh, maybe I try meditation. I know that's good, but maybe something out there. That was my goal for people to remind that these tools are already always there, but from my delivery, just like classical music, through my performance, they get it. Maybe there is one or two more people, they pick up on those life tools to make their life better.

In the first movement of the book, you know, and I really appreciate you for clarifying the myths about becoming or being a pianist. Like everybody says, oh, you're so talented, you can just play on the fly, but you have no idea how much of a work, how much of ups and downs of life to go through to get there, right? So, and I love the quote, it is not willpower but habit that makes things happen, because, you know, willpower is exhausting, and that's why a lot of people quit. But the delayed gratification is a really difficult lesson to learn and teach also. And so where is a good place to start learning this important lesson in life, like, or delayed gratification, meaning building a good habit?

I think it's early as possible, which is why now it's good to place to learn. I think it's important to know that every learning has the learning curves. Like boiling water, it wouldn't boil until 100 Celsius, but you all along, it has been boiling, but we don't feel it. But we have to believe that we are making progress even though we don't see a progress. And I think that is really important for us to remind ourselves. I get frustrated too. Because I practiced this much, I thought it would get better, but it's not yet. But then it's not yet, it's not never, but it's not yet. So growth mindset is something that we can train ourselves. It's not like you have or you don't, but it's I can make it better. Maybe not yet, but I'm making it. So I think focusing on the system, which is a habit, is the key because it's, If I have to think when I'm going to practice a day, every single day, have to think about it, it's exhausting already because my day, I have to do this, I have to do that, when I'm going to do it, it takes already, like I'm exhausted even thinking about it. But if I have a habit of just a certain amount, not all the time, but certain amount of practice is right after breakfast, I'm going to practice, let's say, an hour or two. Then that is secured no matter what because I became a habit after breakfast. Even though I have this conflicts, I don't wanna practice, I'm already sit down and play piano. And it's funny, people would think that it's my willpower to make me practice every day, but it comes from I know why, I know already own why. Why is I love piano, right? But I don't question that why anymore once I own it. I don't question like, do I want to practice? Do I love piano? Like, of course you love someone today and you don't love someone tomorrow because, you know, they so-and-so acted this way. But it's an old couple, they love each other, they know even though they hate each other, they cook for themselves, you know, each other, they do things for each other, they do it by showing. The action, not— maybe not feeling, it's so flimsy thing, you know. You were focusing on, oh, do I love piano? Do I love this person? You know, the answer is that it will change every single day, even every hour it might change, you know. So someday we like this and someday we don't. We sometimes we angry, sometimes we're happy, happy but joy but sad. All of it, it's so flimsy. Our emotions are not reliable thing. So once you own the love, why, then I, even though I would think that like, oh, I hate practicing, but I ignore that chatter because I don't question that. I don't question the core meaning, but I sit down and play. Once I sit down and practice it, 99%, 99 times, I love it. You know, not maybe first 5 minutes, it's still, there's a conflict, but then I get into certain section like, oh, 'Oh, this needs some cleaning up.' 'Oh, this is nice.' You know, more likely 30 minutes pass by, an hour easy, and, and then after an hour I feel good because I overcome myself. I, I made music. I actually enjoyed it. But if I question it when I do it, then I already adjusted and I don't think I would keep up with piano practicing. You know, I'm 42 years old. I started when I was 38 years of practicing every day, forget it, right? I mean, ask someone to do something constantly all the time other than eating and sleeping, you know, this is not major human, you know, instinct thing, you know. So for me, it's very important to make that transition easy as possible. I prioritize it and try not to think as much as possible, at least the first section of the practice. Then if I wanted to add more, some days more, some days less. So then whenever you wanted to add on to your life, if, if that is important to you, then own that why. Really ask seriously why, because you can go back and forth. So let's say that, you know, the exercise is important to you, then you you really want to make that working out as a part of your life, that you don't question that you want to do it, would not want to. Once you own it, then make a system. Let's say you wanted to, you know, work out every single morning. When? Like, when? After we wake up or after, before breakfast. Then make it a small, very, very small amount, like 10 minutes of stretching, and until you get that the habit into your system for at least, you know, a couple, a month or two. Don't push yourself too much because you have to have a longevity of a lifestyle, not like a month, gym, gym every single day. And then from February, everybody's like, go back to their couch. You know, if you want something in your life, you have to start slow. But then what I really emphasize is the 2-day rule, which is you can skip a day but not 2 days in a row. I do skip practice sometimes, but never 2 days in a row. So that rule gives me some room to wiggle, but then ask myself gently back into the track. And then also not too hard on myself. Yes, you can skip a day, it's fine, the world still continues. But what is important is that you gain yourself again and continue. So I think it's very, very important that you own why and then create a system that hopefully that system is actually right after you always do, which is eating is always good to take along or drinking coffee or something already existing habit. You build on to it and make it small, very small. If you want to read a book, Just read up one page, not a whole chapter, you know. And then try every time you finish, you know, we always feel good, like an hour of practice afterwards, I feel great. Then I remember that feeling savory. Just take a moment to think how amazing that feel after workout or after the practice. So every time you feel that resistance, I don't want to work out, or I don't want to practice. Go ahead to feel that joy. Think that joy, that moment. I'm going to feel amazing afterwards. Then it will be easier for you to go there. And then the truth is that we are not in the marathon. You're not going to become Olympian by working out. You're not, you know, even though there is a miniature goal or long-term goal of whatever we do, or piano practicing, or maybe concert coming up. But the real truth is that I love playing piano. I am playing piano. I'm expressing my love of piano every day by doing it, which means I'm loving this very day. I think that's the key. You're not going somewhere. You're thinking so much of a goal, then you lose why you're doing it. The reason you're doing it because you want to do the very thing. So thinking about the activity And the reason we are doing it is so that you love your today.

Yeah. Great advice.

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So creating a habit of action, but also movement too. You talk about Creating a good habit of your mind, guard your mind. And then, so let's talk about the elephant in the room, you know, negativity in our industry. So I sometimes, I have quite a good group of students, advanced students, and then they get more harsh criticism than others who are doing it for fun. Now there is constructive feedback, of course, and then everybody should get that, but there's this insult that is just not really necessary. And sometimes people say, oh, don't be so naive, you know, it's just a little feedback to help you. But this is actually not really feedback. It's not really helpful for anybody, you know, when something like this happens.

What do you think about this Yeah, I think when you are young, it's definitely harder because you're forming yourself, your mind. And if you have like, you know, very harsh teacher, which is often in music, unfortunately, the higher their level is, the harsher they get. And/or parents, the more, you know, harsh parents, that is very difficult. So I really empathize with the young people who go through it. But I think we also, because this is the piano community as well, the dear pianists, the dear piano community, let's not be a nerd. It doesn't matter how so-and-so plays fast or this tempo and how they phrasing. At the end of it, it doesn't matter. But I find that the more classical musicians ourselves are such a hard critic to each other. They degraded each other and saying, oh, she's not that good, I don't know why she got that. Or, oh well, so-and-so win the competition, which means that there's one less position in your life. Or, you know, the scarcity mindset really is toxic. There is enough in this world. That world, love goes around. All the things you want to do beyond your imagination if you make that action. So that if we start to compare each other, competition to each other, that's where it becomes toxic. Whether the so-and-so fellow pianist that advanced students think that, oh well, he plays like, you know, I don't know, he was like really sound bad, but he won that competition. I don't know what the judge was thinking, whatever that is, that it comes from jealousy and comes from the scarcity mindset and competition to each other. But if you think that, you know, just for a moment, so-and-so winning that competition, did it do anything harm to you? And think it as a joy. If so-and-so win the competition, how joyous that is. If you kind of sense that joy and get a crumb of that joy for yourself, you can actually make your life so much more joyous. So then your life is much more positive. And I always find that without we trying, it's going to be always negative. Just know that it's always going to be negative. So we have to do something about it to be neutral, even at least less negative because the world is more negative tendency. So especially negativity from outside world is that I say that it's avoiding is not a sign of weakness. So because why you keep facing the trash, you just throw it away rather than, you know, just look at it and talking about it. And I think The best advice that I could give for you for the negativity from outside is unless you accept the negativity into your heart, none of the negativity has that power. It's you allowing the negativity works to your heart. So I think it is important for you to recognize that it's not them, it's you to allow it. So whenever I go get into the trap all the time, but if so-and-so or some teacher or some outside of world to be negative towards me, then I chin up and think, try to ignore as much as possible. Again, it is not criticism, you know, like constructive feedback, it's coming from love. It's not coming from love. Then I recognize that and then try to erase as soon as possible. And also, if I don't allow it, it doesn't have power. If someone came to your house with all bag of, you know, filthy trash and threw it in your house, what would you do? You'll be like, what are you doing? You know, but if you allow other people talking bad And if you allow that, that means you allow in your living room, in this filthy trash to your mind. So then you have to protect it. You are the one who protects it. It's not, you know, there's all the people out there, it's going to try to throw the garbage inside of your mind. So you have to like vigilant about it. And hopefully there's one less can, trash can is coming into your mind.

And the same goes with our mind too. We always battle with negative and positive thoughts, and negative thoughts are referred to as cognitive distortions. So sometimes we exaggerate. Let's say I made a little mistake on stage, and then, but in my mind, it's like, oh my gosh, that was a fatal mistake, and I can't recover from that. Now, in your book, you talk about it too, but briefly, can you tell us?

I think it is You know, if we are talking in the context of a performance, performance anxiety, I would say we have to separate, are you ready? Are you ready to perform yet? That's also— I'm assuming all the tips that I actually want to give is based on you are ready, you, you, all the steps that you made, efficient practice strategy, and you are ready to perform, but still there's performance anxiety. That's a different thing. So I'm going to assume that you are absolutely ready to perform, and then, then you— this, this negative voices in your head. And to know that the tiger inside of you never going to go away, no matter how advanced you are. Even Horowitz has to kicked out to the stage because he was like, I don't want to go to the stage, and the manager will kick him out, you know. So it's not depending on the level of your performance. It's a human mind, you know. So just know that our pain is your pain too, then it feels a little easier to deal with it. And then we see we still have to deal with it though. And I think that one of the most effective ways to any issues that you have in your life, it's writing down. Writing gives you— gives a clothing to your thoughts. If you only think in your mind, that's just floating and randomly bites you. But if you started to write it down, it feels like, oh, it's nothing. As you said, we tend to exaggerate. But if you actually grab it down and write it down, what exactly I'm worrying about? I am worrying about people think that I'm bad. I'm worrying about if I'm going to make that mistake. So writing down all of the negative thoughts is bothering you, then define it. Defining where this coming from. Is it coming from my own voice, from my teacher in the past? What is based on? And then also defend these tendencies with a positive voice, like, "No, you're going to be great. This performance, no matter what, it's going to be a beautiful experience." So you actually come back with this negativity with at least 5 different positive sentences. And that exercise helps in the moment of battle. I battle in the, during the performance that, oh, the difficult section coming up. And then you, the, this angelic voice that you train so much and think, oh, you got this, you got this. And even if you make mistake, it is just a small, you just pick it up and get, keep going. You know, all of those ready-made, prepared, positive sentence will help you. You, and also write the affirmation sentences saying, I am— I'm excited to play this concert. I'm gonna connect with audience. I love expressing this music. Or, you know, all of those affirmation sentences that you say out loud. It's like fake it until you make it. And also write a visualization in your actual performance, the most positive way, in details, uh, on the day. You write it down, it sits, you know, read it out loud. This visualization technique is not, you know, unknown to other fields. Sports or Olympians will do all the time before their game, you know. So we have to give food to the positive, positivity more. Otherwise, we all have a tendency to be more negative. So, um, in, in that It comes down to how we use words. I can't emphasize more about the power of words or how you say, whether writing or saying out loud. You do it with yourself or with others, but mostly saying out loud. Notice yourself how negatively you are saying, "Oh, this is difficult." "Oh, I'm gonna make a mistake." "That was horrible." If you think that it will be okay, because you're just telling to yourself, but it's not. But for that moment, you're giving the power to the negativity. So even though you think that moment that way, just don't say out loud. Then at least you can make that into a little more power. So even when you're saying with others, notice yourself. Are you saying something negative about this thing with others or someone else? Are you gossiping? Are you complaining? Are you giving a bad energy to someone? All of these things ultimately come back to you. So it's all of it is, it's to protect yourself, but it's also creating the environment so that more positive people are going to come to you. You know, negative people want to grab the negative people. They want to gather in the restaurant and talk about negative things. They love that. So you don't want to be part of it. If you choose not to be in that negative group, you know, you will find out the world is great because there you will see those positive people. Jiyeon, you're doing great! Oh my gosh, you're gonna do great! Oh my gosh, I'm so excited for your project! Wow, I can't wait to be there in your concert! They're not gonna come back to you like, oh my gosh, Oh my gosh, that's gonna be so difficult. How are you gonna fund that? You create your own environment. That's the only way.

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Uh, what struck me was the quote you say, what is success? What does a successful life look like to me? Jiyoung, what is to you?

You know, it's very difficult to live in this time of era. Everything is pneumatic, you know. So some people will say if you make X amount of money, that you are successful. If you're like $100,000 a year, is that successful? Is it $200,000 then successful? Is it $80,000 then it's not successful? If you have 1,000 you know, 100,000 followers, is that successful? If you win, uh, number one competition on Ben Clyburn, is that successful? It may look successful to our eye. It's like, yeah, we love to win that competition, but then why do they are depressed? Why some people commit suicide? You know, they have millions and millions in their bank account. So, you know, I hope that We are not limiting ourselves to being happy only if you accomplish something tangible or expect of you, because that's a dangerous trap, because you can never get enough. If you get X amount, you need another. If you have $100,000 of spending, then you will— your spending is so much that you need $200,000, you know. So I think it's very, very important for us to think life as a game, that all of your projects, all of these things, like it's fun game, you know, you, you push it as much as possible with all intensity, but then the outcome is not out of your control. If it's, it's, it's you just detaching yourself, self-value with what you do. I don't think that my dream of success is not depending on what I do. Yes, I do play piano, I do all these things, but it's not measure of my success. My success is the status of my being. I do what I love to do in my life daily basis. My picture of success is not shaken by, you know, if I don't make that money if I don't get that concert or I, you know, fail something. It's not depending on that. I want to keep my mind content, happy, simple, calm, and able to generate myself a self-energy of life so that I'm in a happy place on a daily basis. You know, who can say to you, you are successful. I mean, they're not in— they're, they're not living my life. If I say I'm happy, I am— that's a success, isn't it? So I really believe that you can be successful today, as of now. It's because it's based on your mind.

So I want to get to your— the recent project, Sium, very soon. But then I think the lockdown, you know, of 2020 had something to to do with it, probably, to get to that project. So, when I read your book, I kept all the quotes from the book. So, let me quote one more. So, you're saying in the book, "We may need to find ways to deliver the core values of what we do without physical contact even after this crisis. Many jobs have disappeared and new ones have been and are being created. As much as it can be daunting and frustrating, It can also be liberating to reset one's life course. The change is already here, and we just have to be much more active and forward-thinking to accept it. End quote. So I could not help but say amen out loud after reading that specific quote because I feel the same way. And how— but how can we keep the classical music tradition while the world changes so rapidly?

First, we need to change with the change. We can't just be stubborn. Our classical musicians are also in heart, right? Because we are dealing with Bach and Mozart and love, you know, we can be in touch with those music because we have that soul in us. But we are only moving forward. We're not going back to 1800 where the, you know, one of the piano recital is the most exciting thing happening in their life. So we have to kind of reassess where are we, you know. The good news is that what we're doing, as I said, the classical music has the ultimate power and beauty, which is timeless. So be confident with this content. If we are selling, I don't know, like a laundry machine or something, you know, if you're really confident this laundry machine is the best the world, you will sell it, right? Same thing with the classical music. It has such a beauty and power. You believe in it. So then we have to just find a way to deliver. You know, I believe that people will go crazy over Mozart and Chopin or Rachmaninoff. We just have to tweak the delivery. No more straightforward recital, you just show up and, you know, no talk at all and play intermission. And yes, that tradition is still going and there are some people going too, but you— that's the danger right there because the presenters and the concert boards are older and older and the younger generation don't even bother to even go there. But it's still continue. I think we are have to think think about people-focused, you as a person who has a messenger, you know. So I think the change might be more connection-based, you know. People want connection. As much as we have these fancy devices and all, and all of that, but we still want to be, you know, cozy up and hearing, listen, really listen. So I think when I even create an album, I create a manual, album manual, which is a very simple manual, which is, can you spare an hour from your life, not as a background of music when you're cooking, but actually using good sound system and read each paragraph that I wrote about this piece and close your eyes and dive in into an experience. Isn't that just simple? It's— but nobody ever told them. Nobody ever told them how to listen. They thought like, music is something they hear in while they'll drive, you know. But since we know how to listen, because we know the beauty of live music, or just hearing someone play in front of you in the living room, that connection. So we wanted as a teacher mind or a friend, empathetic mind, that you have to open yourself to people, the vulnerability, like the belief in the power of storytelling. The storytelling can be, you know, I love this piece. I hate this piece too, you know, because this has such a technical challenge. It's like, it drives me crazy. That already is that story. Storytelling, you know, or open up your life and ask them to join into the experience. Passion is contagious. If I think like, oh my gosh, this piece, Dvořák, so good, and then they'll be like, oh, what is it? You know, because I am so passionately talking about it. So be a missionary of classical music. I believe that any small effort doesn't have to be anything fancy or visual or illustration Doesn't have to be anything. We just make small tweak to want to connect. That makes a big difference to the audience, especially the young audience. And keep thinking about how could you deliver that music, how to set it up so people can experience the deeper way. We are not changing this one to the New Age. We are not going to be all of a sudden drum set next to piano. No, no, music is going to be right there, there, you know.

Right.

I think what we want to do is that just how to get there in empathetic way, connecting way, warm and friendly, you know. And then thinking as how much barrier can I get rid of. Is this bowing in between pieces necessary? Intermission necessary? Is it clapping in between necessary? Question every tradition other than the music itself. Question it and try to different and experiment and see if people respond differently. You know, then they want to feel you. They want to feel you who delivers. They, yes, they care about Mozart, but not as much as you. So, make yourself into a delivery man. A messenger. Open up yourself, then people will get it. People will get the Mozart no matter what.

Right. So where does your— this gift of seeing hope in despair and the possibilities in failure come from? But, you know, I don't believe in toxic positivity either, and you're not in denial of, you know, failures and despair, right? So where does this come from? Is it therapy? Is that a meditation you do or philosophy you read, or is it some sort of a religious belief? What is it?

I do believe the resilience that I have is a strength that I have, as something that probably I cultivated throughout my life. Um, you know, I, I cannot say I only have difficult times because we all have difficult times of life. So, but I, I'm so thankful that my parents who gave me unconditional love so that I could learn to love myself in the first place and not rely on others to give me that value to me. So whenever the storm of my life hits me in a hard way, since I care for my life, my own, I got up, started to walk again, knowing that life goes on. That it's still beautiful as it is today. You know, funny, but something I learned when I was young about like going to dentist, you know, like as much as I hated going there, my mom always reminded me that, you know, the dental problem never goes away on its own, only worsens over time, right? Better go and fix it now. And I think it's similar to life. Life is short. And finite. I wish it could last forever, but it doesn't, you know. So more, more days you waste with the negativity, the less days you would enjoy this beautiful time on Earth. And I think this limit of life gives one perspective of appreciation of what we already have. But I also want to add that, that is coming from all kinds of conscious training throughout my life, especially in the efforts to see positive, being careful with words that I said with others, or writing and journaling all the time, being aware of my own voices through meditation, daily meditation, and of course always trying to learn something, wisdom, from all of the people in my life that has broader perspective. And life is never easy, but I think it's definitely some pathway that we can learn. You know, meditation was in the thousand years of history. Yoga was thousands of years of history that all people use somehow to, to deal with this life. And then we can learn from those wisdoms and adapt and make it easier for ourselves. And I think, you know, I believe music is one of it to make it all better, you know.

Right, right. Absolutely. Hey, friends and listeners, The Piano Pod with Yukimi Song is in its third season. Thanks to all of you for watching or listening to every episode since the launch in 2020. I started this show with a simple question I have had in mind for quite some time, which is, how can we as classical pianists and music educators present the beautiful tradition of classical music to the 21st century audience in a fun, contemporary, and engaging way. It's been an incredible journey for the last 3 years, and I love what I do through this podcast, providing a platform for pianists and educators to think and discuss freely without any judgment about how we can keep the classical music industry thriving and relevant in this constantly and rapidly changing world. Now more than ever, I need your financial support so that I can continue my work by bringing you highly valuable content biweekly by interviewing groundbreakers in the industry. Your support will go directly to all the costs of The Piano Pod with Yukimi Song, such as yearly subscription to the podcasting platform, software I use for high-quality recording sessions and tech gears, as well as all the hours I spend researching and audio/video editing. You can make one-time donation or monthly pledge by clicking the PayPal link in the show notes or go to The Piano Pod's website at thepianopod.com. As a thank you, you will receive The Piano Pod's fun logo sticker in the mail. So please support my show today and don't forget to subscribe to my channel, continue listening, and tell your friends and colleagues about The Piano Pod. Let's continue with this episode.

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We were released from the lockdown. It's the CM, uh, you did the concert, which is Is it a concert, right? And 2022, and you're doing it again in Carnegie Hall June 7th, and tickets will be available very soon, or is it already available?

If, if this is aired after March 7th, it will be, uh, yes, available to purchase today.

Okay, perfect. Now can you tell us about the theme? Yeah, what is it about?

Yeah, so, well, this is my returning appearance in Carnegie, so I'm so excited about it. Uh, so if you're in New York Or if you need an excuse to come to New York, please use it as an excuse. For this project, "Ssi-eum" is my COVID baby. It took almost 2 years to make it into, you know, appearance, first appearance to the public. And "ssi" means poetry and "eum" is first part of "eumak," which means music in Korean. So my idea started as I wanted to use poetry. I never tried poetry and I wanted to try the poetry. And then when I thought of it, I loved that idea, although I had no idea what is poetry. English is not even my main language, but I was just like tackling this word, you know, writing a book and courageous moves. But to me, I always thought music is poetry. And poetry is music with the words, you know, that succinct process of editing and editing and editing and practicing and practicing and practicing, making into something, that polished delivery is very much in line with the classical music. And so I wanted to pair with the poem per piece, and that process was not really easy very rocky at first actually because I commissioned entire like 13 pieces in my album or a concert, one poem which I'm gonna not tell who because I did not like any of it what he did and I was really desperate because I thought creating something new would be the way to go but then I was not connected with that he did and then I was in a very difficult place, what now, you know? So then I had to dig deeper and ask so many advices and realize that still I am the messenger, I am the creator. So whatever I feel the most strongly match with the piece, that's all we need. I'm not looking for the greatest poem out in the world or in the East history. I'm not looking for that poem. I'm looking I'm looking for the poem that reflects the very feeling that I'm trying to convey in that very piece of music, which only I can know very best in my interpretation. So then I gain a little bit of strength in the choosing. So the 13 different poems that I selected are some from the past poet that passed away, or the newly commissioned that which I actually liked. So each one is a self-selected, or some poems already existed, and then I asked for permission. And then afterwards that I thought, oh, what if I have created something to hold this music, to hold the poem, which came about very randomly from a friend of mine who's a photographer in his 60s. He's now in late 80s, and he showed me this box of negatives, you know, black and white film photographies. And I was like, what is this? You know, and it's like almost like about to throw away. And I was looking into it, into the light, and I was thinking like, oh my gosh, what is this? Like all the nature photography he took. You know, film photography goes so much layers to it. You go to darkroom and develop from negatives, going to same spot multiple times to get that perfect shot. It's not like digitals that you can take thousands and which one, and when I saw his photography, it was so poetic. Sometimes it's the sunlight reflecting something, you don't even recognize what that is, but then you make you think. And that was the place that I'm gonna hold this all three elements together. So in my Xian project on concert and an album, there is one nature black and white film photography projected on the screen. Before I play, I tell about the story or sometimes recite the poem that I selected. And then out of this project that I created, you know, nowadays people say they don't have a CD player, and in fact, I don't even have a CD player anymore. So that is like, but as a recording artist, like, that's really heart-wrenching, you know, reality. So then I thought, I still want to create but we still want to create music. So I created this package, which is the postcards, 13 different postcards match per piece, 13 different poems. And then there is download card of this album. And then the back of postcard that on my request or idea of this packaging was that think of someone when you listen to this music along with the poetry and photography. Write a note to that person on that postcard and send it to that person. There's a QR code on the back of postcard, and that person can also listen to my album. So this project starts on my end side but ends on your side, and that's like the way of interacting with the audience that they may not see me in person. And I love that idea that again, it starts from the poetry a random idea, but then turning into something beyond my imagination and turning into some beautiful thing that I can share. But on top of all of it, what I wanted to share, maybe that Scala Rissonata, you know, that maybe all of that is that I wanted to share that very piece Rachmaninoff, A Better Way. So I explain all this process, but at the end of it, the music is the reason I did it.

So at Carnegie Hall, you'll be— maybe without the photos, but somebody will be reading the poem.

Oh, I, I am reading. So in my concert, there's always a signature thing, which is a microphone on stage. So sometimes people are very uncomfortable because I often I often don't give out program at the beginning but give out at the end when they walk out. The idea is, again, you don't have to know anything. Let me guide you. Just let it go. Let it go. You want to know the future in 20 minutes from now? Just be there. I prepared this one so thoroughly, you know, beforehand for you, even from the appetizer to dessert. So just take me into— take you to the experience. And so I will recite poem, sometimes I tell you some story about a piece, but more importantly, you will get a deeper level of experience of the very piece that you never heard or you heard a thousand times already. So that's going to be experienced in Carnegie Hall. Unfortunately, there's not going to be a photography, but I'm on tour of Xi'an still currently and you will more likely, if you catch me, you will have that photography. And if you can't catch me, you can always, you know, purchase an album or the postcards and experience on your own way in your living room. And I think in April, I forgot the date, but if you come to my website, there's another concert coming up in Chicago. So the JiYoon is coming in Chicago as well.

Wonderful. Make sure to check out JiYoon's website at jiyoongkim.com.

Yeah, best way to connect with me is through newsletter, and so you can sign up on that on my website where I write once, maybe 2 or 3 weeks, about things that I've learned in that week. So it's, it's about like ongoing process of communicating with people in a written world, which is the, the most fitting for me actually, um, besides talking. I mean, today was very much fitting in my alley, but I think that would be the closest way to stay connected. Of course, you can follow me on Instagram or YouTube and podcasts and all that, but I think the most intimate way and direct will be newsletter.

Okay, sounds great. So then the tickets for the Carnegie will be available very soon. I mean, by the time this episode will be released, it's up. So, um, it's the concert, it's at Weill Hall Carnegie on June 7th, and then I hope to be there also. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. So, Ji-young, this has been such a fun and inspirational conversation, really, and I enjoyed it every moment. So thank you so much. So before I let you go, we have one more thing to do. It's called The Piano Pod Rapid Fire Questions. So This is the part of the show where I get to ask fun questions to each guest. Now, here's a little warning. So as fun and as silly as these questions may sound, your answers may reveal who you truly are. So are you ready? Okay. Yeah. What is your comfort food?

Ramen.

Mm, yes. How do you like your coffee?

Oh, I like matcha.

Oh yes, that's great. Now, cats or dogs?

Oh, tricky. I, I'm always cat person at heart. Okay, but I love dogs too.

Yes. What is your word or words to live by?

Peace.

What is the most important quality you look for in other people?

Honesty.

Name 3 people who inspire you, living or dead.

All the people you may not know. Well, my teacher, Rayko Nareki from Indiana University, David Bremer, who was my mentor, who passed away. I think my mom.

Beautiful. So name one piece in your current playlist.

Oh, I listened to yesterday Arensky Piano Trio and I couldn't get enough of it. And I think it's the third movement, Scherzo. Ding, ding, ding, ding, ding. You know, I love that.

Now the last one, fill in the blank: Music is blank.

Gift from God.

Beautiful. Ding ding, that's it, you won. Thank you, thank you so much. So this concludes this episode of The Piano Pod with Yukimi Song with Ji Eun Kim. Thank you, Ji Eun, for joining my show today and then sharing your stories, insights, expertise. And you can find more information about Ji Eun's work through her website at ji-eun-kim.com. And please check out her YouTube channel at Ji Eun Kim Pianist. And thank you to my wonderful audience and fans for tuning in. If you enjoyed today's episode, please rate and review it on whatever podcasting platform you use. And if you're watching us on YouTube, remember to hit the thumbs up button and subscribe to my channel. You can also find my show on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn. The links are listed in the show notes. I will see you for the next episode of The Piano Pod with Yukimi Song with Yukimi Song with Yukimi Song. Bye everyone, and thank you to you. Thank you. Thank you.

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You're listening to a podcast right now. Driving, working out, walking the dog. If you're into podcasts, chances are you have something to say too. With RSS.com, starting your own is free and easy. Upload an episode and we distribute it to Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, and hundreds more. Track your listeners, see where they're from, and start earning from ads like this, even with just 10 listeners a month. If you've been thinking about starting a podcast, this is your sign. Start free at RSS.com.