My Story
I come from a family of musicians—my mother is a violinist and my father is a tenor. When I started (and reluctantly continued) playing the violin as a child, I never imagined that I was about to start a journey that would take me around the world, enriching my life through exposure to new cultures and wonderful artists and mentors.
In the early 1980’s, my mother took me and my younger brother to Rome, Italy, to join my father who was pursuing graduate study in operatic singing. I was not thrilled about leaving my friends, familiar surroundings and having to learn a new language. But I realized that this jolt could be a golden opportunity for me to quit the violin. My not so secret wish became true once we moved to Italy.
My family in 1984 just after we moved to Rome
After a six month hiatus, my parents nonchalantly arranged a meeting with Mr. Mario Ferraris from whom I expected to study the violin, just for fun. I will never forget the first meeting with Mr. Ferraris, a former concertmaster of the famed Orchestra del Teatro alla Scala in Milan. With an overflowing enthusiasm most likely due to meeting his very first Korean student, he asked me what my zodiac sign was even before asking my name.
Mr. Ferraris was the right person at the right time to rekindle my interest in the violin. His primary approach was to develop a Bel Canto aesthetic—something that resonated with me growing up in a singer’s home. There was a warmth to his approach, caring about the whole person, adapting his teaching to the smallest degree to match the personality of each student. With Mr. Ferraris’s nurturing tutelage, I decided that I wanted to become a violinist.
At the same time, a great number of Russian Jews were finally allowed to leave the Soviet Union. It turned out that a few of the people who would change my life took part in that exodus. One of them was Mr. Pavel Vernikov, my teacher after Mr. Ferraris. Mr. Vernikov had immigrated from the Soviet Union to Italy, and had been performing and teaching extensively in Europe. He in turn invited many of his fellow emigres to be guests at his schools and festivals.
Among those invited was Ms. Zinaida Gilels. In the Soviet Union, Ms. Gilels was considered to be one of the most prominent pedagogues of the Yankelevich School. During her training, she studied with the most important figures of the Russian violin school: Stolyarsky, Yampolsky and Oistrakh. Ms. Gilels became Yankelevich’s assistant and collaborator. Eventually, Ms. Gilels became a prolific teacher producing several internationally acclaimed violinists of the next generation such as Ilya Grubert, Ilya Kaler and Evgeny Bushkov. She herself relocated to Boston, and traveled several times a year to teach in Italy and Finland.
I was extremely lucky to study with Ms. Gilels in the summer of 1989, and serve as her translator in her other lessons. Frankly, my English back then was less than elementary, but it was considered to be quite serviceable as many Italian students did not speak English at all. This allowed me to observe numerous hours of lessons, seeing up close how Ms. Gilels explained and demonstrated the principles of her teaching. I was struck how students with completely different strengths and weaknesses were transformed under Ms. Gilels’ expert guidance. This experience inspired me to follow her to Boston to study with her as a full-time student.
After dinner with Ms. Gilels in her kitchen in Boston
I consider Ms. Gilels to be the most influential teacher and impactful mentor in my life. She was generous and patient while teaching me the methodical and analytical pedagogy of the Yankelevich school, prioritizing expressive and individualistic tone quality, the connection to and understanding of various musical styles, and the beauty and mastery of efficient technique.
Ms. Gilels also taught me to be open-minded and curious about new findings in performance practice and other pedagogical styles as learning is a process of absorbing new ideas with flexibility and imagination. In fact, even after decades of accumulating her expertise in the Russian School of violin playing, Ms. Gilels was never dogmatic, and was always enthusiastic about new ideas that her students brought to the lessons.
Since Ms. Gilels’ passing in 2000, I have been incredibly honored to steward her music library. This richly annotated collection of scores is an invaluable source of guidance and inspiration. Her edits on those scores are precious links to her, her teachers, and her colleagues like Oistrakh, Yampolsky, Stoliarsky, Yankelevich, and Kogan. Her neatly complied and sometimes color coded markings on fingering, bowing, and other notes offering alternate solutions shed light on the depth of her musical heritage as well as her passion and dedication to her art.
Ms. Gilels’s annotated copy of Chausson Poeme with 3 different colors—each denotes markings she got from Yankelevich, Oistrakh and Kogan
Ms. Gilels was very supportive of my interest in pursuing a doctoral degree. She encouraged me to study with Mr. Roman Totenberg at Boston University to whom she introduced me a few years prior. In the subsequent years in the DMA program, I benefited enormously from Mr. Totenberg’s expert mentorship, and his disarming humor. I was honored to learn from a great artist whose musical expression and wisdom enlightened many generations of musicians and audiences for nearly nine decades. It was fascinating to learn about certain musical or technical solutions of Carl Flesch with whom Mr. Totenberg studied in the early 1930’s. It was inspiring to me to see Mr. Totenberg at age 100, still full of the joie de vivre remembering his musical friends and experiences over the last century.
After a duo performance with Mr. Totenberg
As I look back, my musical journey is what led me to find my path in life. These historical figures who were my mentors kindled an excitement, a passion, and that has taken me around the world to three different continents. I feel so fortunate to have found a life where I have been inspired by great art and great people. And this is what I strive for in my own performing and teaching, to create that sense of wonder and excitement for the violin and music in general.