"Jack of all trades!" It well describes her. An outstanding look, superb performance, profound knowledge, and a woman of integrity. She is often chosen as a roll model by young players. I made an appointment with her to interview on a warm spring day of April at Bukchon, Seoul where her own theater is.

Q: I know you are working in many fields. Would you tell me about your activities as a Geomungo player, also as an owner of a theater.

A: If someone ask me "What is your job?", then I mostly answer "My job is a Geomungo player". That''s my main job: whatever it may be ― as a team leader, as a solo player, as a composer, or releasing albums. What I like most other than Geomungo is running a theater of my own. I am running this theater in the view point of a producer rather than an administrator. The theater is my place where I can execute what I have wanted to do such as things that I felt after making Korean Traditional music contents, and the things that I regret from those, or something that I wanted to give to the other artists from the experiences as a musician. So the Geomungo player and the administrator is not a divided job to me.

Q: I know Bukchon Changwoo Theater was built by your father, a drama producer. Would you introduce about the programs of your theater?

A: Bukchon Changwoo Theater discovers new project teams with promising future from 2008 in the name of "Stage for the New Korean Traditional Music". Also, there are world music related programs such as "Changwoo World Instrument Festival", and "Changwoo World Music workshop & Festival". Further more, We are preparing an intensive programs or long-standing performances so that it can give more opportunity to performers and the audience to spread up their spectrum of Korean Traditional music.

Q: You are basically a Geomungo player. But I heard you are also good at other genres of art, too.

A: I majored Korean Traditional Dance when I was a Arts Middle School student. It was my highschool days when I started Geomungo. While I''m studying Geomungo, I had chances to study other instruments like the Ajaeng, and other percussion instruments. All the efforts seem to be my big nourishment to do music now.

Outstanding Individuals Can Make Outstanding Team

Q: You are working for both solo and Tori Ensemble. What do they mean as an individual performer?

A: Basically, art is the field where every individuals'' success is clearly shown. There are many brilliant success of co-working. However, the collaboration is more likely done by outstanding one single leader or outstanding individuals. I take the team activity as another form of musical activity of my own rather than I divide it into two different fields. An ideal team activity can be made by exchanges with outstanding individuals under the collaboration. What I want to do now is to stimulate and help each others through music while each individuals remain alive. For example: Sinawi, there are specific individual characters within the music, and each masters strut along the melody, yet they know when to yield to the main character when they are auxiliary with highly seasoned technique and harmony. I think such music is at last interesting.

Q: How was the Tori Ensemble made?

A: Collaborating with world''s famous musicians was most interesting when I attended the residency program in New York for 6 months. I felt it''s close to the artist''s instinct to play with good players together. So, I organized the "Tori project" with music friends in New York. I wanted to exchange it as music to music with world''s musicians. Also, I personally had another goal to achieve through the project, that''s one of the effective way to introduce Korean music to the world, which was so much rare to the outsiders. The "Tori project" is still in progress. On the other hand, I re-organized a team of "Tori Ensemble" with Korean musicians for more effective musical activities. Tori Ensemble selected for PAMS Choice, the official showcase of PAMS2010 in the name of Tori, Sori, Nori (Playing with the Sound of Tori)see the details. Tori Ensemble began its activities in earnest with an opening concert of WOMEXsee the related news in 2010. We are marketing this team to world music market through international festivals, or touring in American and European.

I like Absolute Evaluation

Q: I am interested in an overseas activities of Tori Ensemble. How was the local reaction?

A: The reaction is really great. What ourselves are proud of is that we are praised not only by the audience, but also by staffs and other participants. It is really happy when the people extend their hands and tell us "It was the best performance ever". They were the world''s class staffs, performers, and even volunteers who had been working for 20 years in WOMAD in Australia. As soon as I feel such a happiness, I get more pride and bear more belief about the possibility of Korean Music.

Q: You probably have many opportunities to meet foreign art-directors or performers. Do you have any special know-how?

A: World''s experts have listened to huge amount of music, and their knowledge is overwhelming based on world''s folk musics. So, they already feel the excellence even if I don''t talk about it. It''s impossible to explain our music with some words of amateurs. I can tell Korean music has somewhat different energy or power different from those of others. It doesn''t mean just the physical volume, but the power from the concentration of quality. Everyone is surprised by the power in that it has amazing powers on each melody. Let them listen and feel a lot is more important than just to symbolize it. That would be more appropriate, I think.

Q: What are the facts for you to keep in mind within your music?

A: Korean Traditional music bears the result of crisis such as broken history or modernization. However, it''s still remain modernized and popularized through omni-directional historic changes. It may be the same for both the performers and the audience because they couldn''t see each others on objective attitude within such circumstances. Domestic performances became the easiest market to be distorted, and the evaluations stuck in a rut, or unobjective reaction was the hardest part to accept. I always eager for precise and objective feedbacks. I want to be evaluated not because I do Korean traditional music, but because I am qualified enough to be compared with some great musicians who already had awarded by Grammy or so. It''s easy to post an ideal image and one can fit himself in that frame for the traditional music performers when they go abroad. Traditional music performers always should keep in mind not to follow the main stream of world music by his own supposition or calculation of right now.

Dream After a Decade

Q: You must be always busy. Still, what is the source of your energy to keep you up as an artist?

A: It''s my happiest moment when I play on the stage. I always prepare myself for the moment, and I also realize it "Oh, it''s my way!" The energy, it just springs up anyhow within my busy schedule. Once I visited New Zealand, I saw a beautiful outdoor stage next to the vast lake and grass. I heard many concerts had been held there like Elton John, Ravi Shankar, and more. I really liked the stage. My dream is to play Geomungo solo at such a beautiful place only with a percussion ― the Janggu. Maybe after 10 years? I want to do the music of my own on such a beautiful stage with world music fans from all over the world.

Q: Do you have dreams other than performing activities?

A: I think festival is a really important thing, especially in Korea. The cultural communion is never enough with the contents only in the theater. We need to take them out. It''s not a politic issue, but to enjoy different cultures and accept the diversity of world music. I want to organize a festival so that people can experience and learn the diverse foreign cultures. As a first step, I''m planning a small world music festival and workshop at my theater around this Fall.

Q: What plans do you have this year?

A: My thinking came back to the origin: strengthening the personal ability while I''m pursuing the Tori Ensemble activity. So, I''m planning a new album right now, and a solo concert in May with repertoires of traditional-oriented. Tori Ensemble''s concerts are planned in Slovenia and Sweden in June. I and Seok Ju YI(Tori Ensemble''s member) expect to participate in the Festival Jasstopad, Poland co-working with Poland Jazz Band in November. I also want to make the collaboration come true with DJ. Dalparan, which has been discussed for a long time. I''d like to unfold my experiences that I''ve obtained by bridging the cultures between domestic and overseas stages.

I could feel the great POWER of her who catches the order of the hidden world on music within a petite woman''s body. It''s been quite a while for her friends to call her "Master HEO" because she is of tough-minded, and talented itself. I smell the scent of Spring from her.