Soo Yeon Lyuh (b. 1980) Yessori (Sound from the Past) (2016) Soo Yeon Lyuh is a composer, improviser, and master of the haegeum, a two-stringed Korean bowed instrument. Lyuh’s work strikes a balance between originality and tradition, borrowing and recontextualizing familiar gestures from Korean music. Her soundscape follows a logic of texture, pacing, feeling, and unexpected turns. Lyuh’s music addresses present social issues. “Tattoo” (2021) is about fear and release, and responds to her own experience of a random shooting incident in California. “See You On The Other Side” (2021) was composed in response to the growing death toll of the coronavirus. “Moment 2020” (2020) has been dedicated to artists who struggle to stay creative during the pandemic. Lyuh’s music searches for connection and empathy in tumultuous times. As a performer, Lyuh possesses flawless technique and a full command of the haegeum’s traditional repertoire. For 12 years, she was a member of South Korea’s National Gugak Center, which traces its roots to the 7th Century Shilla Dynasty and is Korea’s foremost institution for the preservation of traditional music. Lyuh has endeavored to weave authentic styles into new musical domains, relocating in 2015 to the San Francisco Bay Area and drawing inspiration from its dynamic improvised music scene. In 2017, Lyuh was awarded a fellowship from the Asian Cultural Council to develop collaborations with Bay Area experimental musicians. She pushes herself not only to command a deep understanding of historical works, but also to negotiate challenging new ones. Lyuh’s interest in improvisational music draws on Korean traditions lost to generations of performers. Although playing by ear is essential in bringing Korean folk music to life, preserving traditional performance has taken precedence over expanding the music’s improvisational vocabulary. In this respect Lyuh has ventured in a decidedly experimental direction. She was featured on the record Mudang Rock (2018) with drummer Simon Barker, guitarist Henry Kaiser, bassist Bill Laswell, and saxophonist Rudresh Mahanthappa. In December 2017, she played with trumpeter Wadada Leo Smith at the Create Festival in San Francisco. She also played on a free improvisation recording, Megasonic Chapel (Fractal Music, 2015), featuring Kaiser, percussionist William Winant, pianist Tania Chen, and cellist Danielle DeGruttola. Meanwhile, Lyuh honed her improvisational skills by working with cellist Joan Jeanrenaud and sitting in on courses of pianist Myra Melford and avant-garde icon Roscoe Mitchell. In 2021, Lyuh began doctoral studies in composition at Princeton University. Previously, Lyuh earned her D.M.A. in Korean Traditional Music from Seoul National University. As a lecturer, she is sought after for her ability to impart valuable insight and intercultural understanding to those unfamiliar with Korean traditional music; her dissertation researched the changing role of haegeum in Korean orchestras beginning with early court traditions. As a visiting scholar at Mills College (2017-2018) and UC Berkeley (2015-2016), Lyuh taught established and emerging composers in the Bay Area about haegeum composition and techniques in order to create new repertoire for the instrument. Lyuh has also been a visiting scholar at the University of Hawai’i at Manoa (2011-2012).
/tmp/221109061544-072a857e317ec6ad5c3e5bac89b2f6b8-nh9drte6/original.docx
“I think that it will be impossible to conquer the haegeum in my lifetime,” says Lyuh. “That is because it becomes harder the more I play it. The instrument continues to reveal itself. It is full of untapped possibilities for improvisation and composition. I hope the nature of my music can make a bridge between cultures across times, and break down any walls.” About Yessori, Lyuh writes: “I was commissioned to write a piece that explores aspects of Korean traditional music. So I composed this piece and named it Yessori (옛소리), which means ‘sound from the past’ in Korean. “I first got used to playing the piano and violin. So later when I encountered Korean traditional music, its relative pitch relationships and fluid rhythmic cycles felt completely new. But these strange yet beautiful qualities grew on me in the past two decades – I fell in love with a twostringed bowed instrument called ‘haegeum.’ Yessori is my way of sharing this experience with the broadest possible audience. “I composed Yessori in 3 steps: improvisation, transcription, and editing. I assumed the string quartet to be an extension of haegeum while also incorporating the distinctive techniques, vibrato, and articulations for string quartet. I used video recording as a kind of score, so that the Kronos members and I learn parts interactively.”
/tmp/221109061544-072a857e317ec6ad5c3e5bac89b2f6b8-nh9drte6/original.docx