Do you recall the series of “surprise performances” that simultaneously struck from all sides last summer? On July 12th, 2013, three hundred or so artists came together for one day only in the aptly named One Day Festival, sharing their music with audiences in 65 venues in 35 cities nationwide. It was a unique event that offered audiences a rare opportunity to experience various genres of music such as classical, opera, jazz, and world music, in a wide range of venues, from culture centers to galleries, cafés and even residential homes. Sitting not in an auditorium but on the stage, and not in chairs but on the floor as they listen, concert-goers can witness the boundaries between the musician and audience crumble, letting everyone experience music with their whole being in a fresh, vivid way. All this was made possible through House Concert. Then when summer returned, we met House Concert’s organizer Park Chang-su as he was putting together this large-scale event that spans Korea, China and Japan.

House Concert’s History of Proving Itself

“In the end, is this really possible?”
This is the question most people have for the creative mind behind House Concert. His response is always the same.
“Yes, I’ll show you.”

Park’s first House Concert took place on July 12th, 2002, in a residential house in Yeonhui-dong, making this year the event’s 12th anniversary; the past 12 years have seen over 1,500 musicians performing over 400 concerts. This is exactly the sort of history that serves as “proof.” That proof is seen in how he can produce these concerts that both musicians and audiences are satisfied with, even without a large production budget and nothing but a bare floor. The road to proving himself was a solitary, arduous one. There were frequently deficits rather than gains and a minority rather than a majority. Questions expressing concern came one after another. Like the popular television program, everything seemed to be an “Infinite Challenge” (or “MuhanDojeon,” a popular variety show in which the celebrity cast is assigned difficult but entertaining “missions”).

“In the entire run of House Concert, there hasn’t been a single time when we made a profit. A common misconception is that it is like this because I have a lot of money. But really, I am driven by the desire to move people’s hearts and open their minds. I am not concerned with making profits; it’s difficult to explain rationally in an economic sense.”

The ticket price for the concert is KRW 20,000, the same now as it was ten years ago. Half the ticket price is guaranteed to go to the musicians, and the rest is used to fund the production of the concert. “I struggled with whether I should raise the price to KRW 30,000 because people were telling me, ‘Is n’t the admission price too cheap?’ I decided to leave determining the value of the concert up to the audience’s judgment. We left out a collection box for audiences to pay for admission as they saw fit, and when we calculated the total at the end it was more or less the same as what we had made through regular admission fees. Though there were a small number of patrons who gave a generous amount, we refused any corporate sponsors.” There was the problem of “conditions.” "Work that requires heart and sincerity cannot be done under conditions" is his unwavering stance on the subject. On the other hand, there are other aspects that have changed over the past ten years.

“Recently we have received a lot of interest from musicians wishing to participate in the event. A few years back when we suggested holding a House Concert in rural areas, they refused because of things like littleto no guaranteed pay, it was far, the expected audience level was low, etc. However, now they are volunteering to go. They rediscovered just wanting to experience the joy of sharing music with an audience. It took ten years for us to come to the point where musicians believe in House Concert and think only of what they have to offer in that moment.”

The trust musicians had in House Concert was first visualized in 2012 in Free, Music Festival where 100 performances were staged in 23 theaters throughout 21 cities in the course of a week. At that time Park’s sights were set on the musicians and the stages set in local areas nationwide.

“Korea has many very talented musicians, but there are not many venues where they can play. Although there are approximately 400 larger than mid-size theaters they are utilized less than 50 percent of the actual time they’re available. There needs to be a good match with the musician and the venue to reach potential audiences, which is how the House Concert came to be held in different stages in its 10th year back in 2012.”

When Park first said that he would stage 5,000 performances in a year, most people just laughed. What evidence he gave as grounds for this statement was not important. People tend to not believe what they cannot see with their eyes. Before he was able to organize 5,000 concerts in one year, Park first started his festival under the idea that it was possible hold 100 concerts in the course of a week; in the following year, 2013, he continued momentum with a project that had 65 concerts proceeding simultaneously: all on the same day, at the same time. Of course, the festival was run in the same vein as the House Concerts, with no boundaries between the artist and the audience, who sat on the stage floor. As artist and audience became physically closer, the audience seemed to concentrate harder and become more entranced by the music. Even those who might not have listened to classical music before, complaining as they shouted "What is this?", could not help but become captivated by the raw musical experience, taken back to music’s roots.

Basic Culture Changes People’s Sensibilities

When speaking of the continuous deficit since the inception of House Concert, Park said that one who devotes himself to the arts is not concerned with business matters. He also stressed that House Concert and One Day Festival are not produced with a business mind set.

“My job is bringing something new to the table and seeing it through. It is not hard to present people with something just within their reach so that they can follow suit. I may be setting myself up in the process, but I think my disposition from being a composer makes it possible for me to do so.”

The process of laying out a plan, looking at the whole picture, then creating the structure in detail: In mapping out the big picture in one-year and ten-year increments, there has not been much significant change in determining the necessities or how to get more musicians. That is why for Park, House Concert is no different from being one single project. Just as he concerns himself with structure when composing a piece, he continues to develop the structure and flow within each House Concert performance. Whilst conversing with Park, the words that most frequently cropped up were“basic culture.” People’s sense of what their rights are rises as society develops, but on the flip side their sense of responsibility falls lower. The right to something without responsibility is simply selfishness or entitlement. Park says this cannot be remedied simply by changing the domain, but a more discerning level of consciousness for all citizens overall will make this possible.

“Many people say that there has to be a change in politics or the economy. However, culture is what changes a person. Change within people and in society can only be made with the development of the fundamentals of the arts, and through the reinforcement of the foundation of culture. Now in our time we have this sensual and momentary popular art, behind which lies pure art, with its serenity and long history. While both play important roles, pure art and basic culture need to gain ground and be recognized above all else, for it is with that base that popular art can grow naturally. Without Bach’s music, K-POP could not be what it is today.”

Basic culture needs to become a foothold for the next generation’s development, and to do so the overall cultural consciousness needs to be raised, which is the ultimate goal that House Concert hopes to play a role in and why Park continues to keep it going. Up to last year, with the turning point being the revitalization that followed with matching artists to suitable venues, Park has expanded his sights to include Korea, China, and Japan. On July 12, in all three countries, a total of 94 performances will be held simultaneously for this year’s One Day Festival, using art as a medium for closing the distance between the stage and the audience, breaking down ideological and cultural boundaries and forming a space and time in which the two can see and understand each other through art.

“The three nations, Korea, China, and Japan, are tangled up in their long, complicated history together. Though sharing similar cultural backgrounds, they still come into conflict in various areas. Now we need to transcend these boundaries as we share our cultures with one another, to create a community where we can respect and preserve each other’s culture. We set out on creating the festival with this in mind, to incite a meaningful change for the next generation."

ⓒPark Chang-hyeon(Chad Park)