Accent Magazine
Spring 2005 Volume 57
www.yamaha.com
Klara Min's Romantic Touch
Romanticism has bloomed in the frost-kissed streets of New York City. German Romanticism, to be specific, expressed by the amorous, lyrical music of Johannes Brahms and Clara and Robert Schumann. Since last October, New Yorkers were able to escape the cold and experience the warm tones of Klara Min performing at Yamaha Artist Services, Inc. (YASI) in New York City.
For their fourth concert of "Brahms and Schumann," Min performed Brahms's piano quintet and selections of songs by Schumann and Brahms with soprano Hyunjee Yoon; violinists Omar Gwey and Judy Kang; violist Kyle Armbrust and cellist Alistair MacRae. They performed to an audience that included fellow musicians, music students and many of their parents, as well as members of the music-loving public.
Min, who performed on a Yamaha CFIIIS concert grand piano, chose all the music for the chamber music series. "I play the work of Schumann and Brahms because they reflect the German Romanticism period that at the time began with literature," she says. "It shows a very rich flavor of the romantic idiom. The works have an irresistible appeal to the audience, and the Yamaha piano certainly helps to bring out the message."
An active performer and teacher, Min has won the World Piano Competition and Artists International Piano Competition, among others. She has played throughout Europe, America, and her native South Korea. Her venues include Carnegie's Weill Recital Hall, The Smith Opera House, KBS Broadcast Hall, Merkin Hall and Korean embassies in Washington, DC and Europe. She received her bachelor's and master's degrees from the Manhattan School of Music. Currently, Min is on the piano faculty at Wesleyan University in Connecticut. In addition, she is finishing her Konzertexamen Degree program at Luebeck Musikhochschule in Germany.
Min has played a Yamaha piano most of her musical life. Her musical education began at the age of four with her composer mother, who was a pupil of the eminent Korean songwriter WoonYung Na. "I enjoy the instrument very much. It has a beautiful sound — a sound quality that is very pure. The action is sensitive — it works well for the kind of Romantic repertoire that I love to perform."
The Yamaha Artist Services, Inc. chamber music series ran through April 2005, with six performances in all.