Accent Magazine
New Yamaha Artist Klara Min
“I’ve always been impressed by Yamaha instruments ever since I was a child” says classical pianist and newly added Yamaha artist KLARA MIN. “The action is really sensitive and I enjoy playing them. Yamaha pianos have a “Cantabile” quality, an Italian word meaning a singing style or tone, and resonate beautifully in acoustic, and I am very pleased to play them”
Born into a musical family in Seoul, Min first studied piano with her mother, who studied with eminent Korean songwriter Woon-Young Na. Min gave her New York debut recital at Carnegie’s Weill Recital Hall in 2002 as winner of the Artists International Piano Competition: she has received many prizes from international competitions and performed in Europe and America with major orchestras such as the Seoul Symphony Orchestra, Korean Symphony Orchestra, Jupiter Symphony and American Chamber Orchestra.
When she moved to New York City, Min attended many Salon Concert Series at Yamaha Artists Services, Inc. (YASI). “The people were so nice and not many organizations offer concert series like those at YASI”, she says. “Most feature individual artists or one concert, but this is special” Her enthusiasm for the Salon series led her to become both soloist and presenter of two successful series at YASI. “I’m organizing it with James Steeber (Yamaha Artists Services, Inc. acting director)”, she says. The bi-weekly series will run from September 13 to December 14, 2007. Min has a Yamaha GranTouch at home, which is, she says, “very nice for practicing late at night with headphones”. She’ll be doing quite a lot of that to prepare for a March 1, 2008 concert at Merkin Hall featuring all twelve of Liszt’s “transcendental Etudes”. “Etudes are known for their technical difficulty and artistry. It takes a great effort and focus to perform all twelve of them. Yes, I like a challenge”, she laughs. “both in learning and in collaborating with other artists like I do for YASI Salon Concert Series”. “Music is a universal language. Sometimes words don’t express what we really feel”, she says, despite fluency in English, Korean and Japanese and being conversant in German. “Awareness can move from your subconscious to your conscious mind, and you can communicate it through music. It’s amazing when an audience can appreciate that, it’s really rewarding. Music is the core of my soul and spirit. I wouldn’t know how else to spend my life. It’s more than dedication: it’s devotion. Our duty to make the world a better place, is in what we do” she says, “For me, that’s music, and I just have to try my best in this area.”