South Korea's Musical Prodigies | 101 East

The sounds of classical instruments and the voices of impatient teachers resonate through South Korean music schools. The country has become a breeding ground for young performers making their mark on the world stage.
South Koreans have won lots of recent international classical music competitions. But behind these success stories are childhoods crammed with endless hours of practice, with some starting lessons at just two years of age.
101 East goes backstage to meet South Korea’s musical prodigies and find out the secrets to their success.
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[@1962Holland]

I don't think the heart of the young girl isn't into violin playing anymore. The mother must realize it, and stop pushing her daughter.

[@yipjocelyn2339]

She still is and is still enjoying it

[@huonggiang_diary7619]

She still loves it 😂

[@n0b0dyxno]

Dear yoeun's mother, you shouldnt push your child to practice, its hurting her mental health, as you see shes tired cause of heavy eyebags, and sore arms. And "she shouldnt play like a kid anymore". She IS still a kid. And i could tell she had a very busy schedule, its very stressful as a kid who had a very busy schedule while tired.

[@stefanhoimes]

I started playing really young and completely burned out just before I successfully completed my undergrad degree. It took almost losing my life 6 years ago to truly enjoy my work again and a pandemic to realize that music is my only constant. I hope these kids find some balance in adulthood and have access to mental health professionals that they can confide in.

[@nerdcartoon2544]

Yoeun is an extremely good violinist for her age, but she is still a child and her mother gotta make it a little easy on her

[@bobwilliams233]

I think YoEun's mom is too strict.

[@ilovemycatrussell9298]

I personally can tell by the thumbnail of this that Yo Eun Sol had way too much pressure on her. I know it is important to practice daily, but I feel that pushing yourself too much can take your passion of music away, and make you feel like an extra chore, rather than actually enjoying the music.

[@whatsthestorymorningglory61]

Yoeun used to play the violin with so much joy and ease when she was younger. She seems to have lost much of that happy and playful energy. I feel sorry for her. Her mom has obviously smelled the money….

[@AnnetteBond]

Competition is important, but South Korea has become fixated on it. I pray these children (and eventual adults) get the mental health support that they need. There’s no prize for being the country with the highest suicide rate.

[@kyungheeheil9011]

요은이는 너무 뛰어나고 아름다운 탤런트를 가지고 음악을 시작해서 그 기량을 천천히, 재미있게 키워가면 될텐데 엄마의 원함이 섞이니까 아이가 힘들기도 하겠네요.

[@jeonc846]

천재를 천재로 키우기 힘든 한국인의 마인드. 아이의 행복보다 부모의 욕심이 더 중요한 한국의 어리석은 교육 문화.

[@viiviwagner3240]

What a horrible mother Youen has. I would be very stressed if somebody pushed me like that

[@HM-it2sh]

She is amazingly talented and has practiced diligently, but by her expressions, it looks like she has already lost some of the joy, and is feeling pressured. Children need balance in their life even more than adults do - if they are pushed too hard, they get mentally exhausted and start refusing to play. They can develop "performance self-esteem", where they only feel good about themselves if they perform perfectly - but it's not actual self-esteem. The most important thing is that children are loved and approved of regardless of how they perform. Children know that their parent's love isn't sincere unless the parent is occasionally willing to give up a performance or a technical improvement for the child's sake.

[@Ormdeedeena]

Totally agree!

[@psijicassassin7166]

We Asians can equal and outdo the West in their cultural ways. We are waiting for the day when Germans see our own music as worthy of being played by white people.

[@yezuyi2938]

I do think little yoeun may be losing a bit of joy in her learning. She seems to look happier when she was much younger. I hope it's just a phase that she is going thru and hope that her mum will be sensitive to her feelings and handle it carefully. I'm not too sure about Chloe Chua's upbringing but at least she looks like she is enjoying her playing and her music when she is on stage - something that is hard to fake. I'm sure Chloe's mum tries her best to watch over her emotional growth through the years. Not judging here but just wish all the best to yoeun. :)

[@humbggs]

if you see yoeun's yutube account now, I think she's having much more fun :)

[@psijicassassin7166]

We Asians can equal and outdo the West in their cultural ways. We are waiting for the day when Germans see our own music as worthy of being played by white people.

[@georgesealy4706]

Great video, I thoroughly enjoyed it.

[@urojoe]

parents are crazy...

[@Arcenmh7718]

Coz Asian mom

[@cy7632]

after watching this, i now understand why Yoeun Seol played the Carmen liked a robot in the show. A kid who woke up at 3am due to pressure and didn't look happy at all when she was playing violin. Her mom need to stop pressuring her and her method of teaching is definitely not good for Yoeun. Even prodigy need a good teacher to bring out her talent. Compared to other child prodigy like Himari Yoshimura & Chloe Chua, Yoeun still have long way to go. Chloe is not only good at the technique but also enjoying the music thus her music always touch people's heart.

[@pena1950]

Wait first of all who tf plays violin at 3am lol

[@Aminthyne]

@@pena1950 she woke up at 3 am to get ready, get there, get ready again, and warm up. It took a few hours I'm sure, anyone would be drained, especially an 8 year old. Couldn't imagine it

[@pena1950]

@@Aminthyne but why 3am though

[@carolynkim2774]

@@pena1950 She woke up due to stress

[@GarGlingT]

Passion become professional

[@robertskolimowski7049]

Interesting, thanks Aljazeera👏

[@dawnglianapachuau6433]

as a classical music connoisseur, really enjoyed it.

[@ilovemycatrussell9298]

I did to, but the amount of pressure Yo Eun Sol was given is ridiculous.

[@mrp5578]

The strict upbringing and discipline among Asians in school and at home plus the natural love for music and sucess could have been some of the reasons why Asians are taking over the musical world.

[@psijicassassin7166]

We Asians can equal and outdo the West in their cultural ways. We are waiting for the day when Germans see our own music as worthy of being played by white people.

[@theredgate5568]

Her pony tails hairstyle is SO cute... as is the talented, little maestro!

[@CEJ-sr6ok]

Good luck to all these young musicians!

[@psijicassassin7166]

The white Western music industry cannot make an Asian performer too famous because that would mean admitting that Asians are the equals of Westerners in performing their very own music.

[@orchepiaviolinviola]

I've seen this girl before. She doesn't look happy playing the violin. This channel presents this subject as if it was something new. South Koreans were flooding the music conservatories back in the 1980's.

[@gregglapukenn3724]

The young first girl doesn't look happy.

[@alannoorkhamy]

She was happy when she was still a toddler. But now she seems sad & tired.

[@Zetourayaka_0_00blank]

@@alannoorkhamy yes. I really hope she hasn’t come to hate the violin, because of pressure. May she live a happy life, and still be able to love the violin. I find her mom too strict…

[@alannoorkhamy]

@@Zetourayaka_0_00blank this gives me anxiety, literally. Because in two weeks my son will be enrolled in a music academy to learn piano. I hope I wouldn't end up like the mother. I might have the tendency to become a very strict mother just like how my mother raised me when I was little, I wasn't happy though. I need to break the chain & be a democratic mother to my children.

[@susannestechow]

I think you disagree. Have you want to say that the little girl doesn't want to play violin any more? I think that her arms are just tired and start to hurt. She should Stop practizing for a while, for eating, sleeping, relaxing, and so on, but otherwise she gets an inflammation at her left arm. I had an acute inflammation at my left arm some years ago when I practized. a solo partita by Bach one evening. I had Not done the warming-up, slow scales and bowings and step-by-step faster bowings. That is good for the arms and for the ears too, it trains Aldo the Musical hearing. I learned this from my violin teachers in Germany and think that is good to practize step-by-step. One stay healthy with one's arms. I played at an Orchestra at the end of the 80s. It was my Job, and a Collegue of Mine got a grave Problem with her left arm. She worked as a musician at the orchestra and wanted to Finish her violin studies at the music Academy (in Germany called High School for Music or University of. Arts) externely but she got such a chronical inflammation. I do Not know If she could stay at the orchestra and to Go on playing or Not or If she could finishing her studies and could do her degree. She had wrapped her left arm in binds at the Last Time when I was at the orchestra. I moved to Berlin later and lost her Out of my eyes. I do Not want that the nice, lovable, gifted little Eun Seol who I know from different amazing other Videos on KZbin, will have to give Up her violin playing because of such an illness. And what I did after I had realized that I had pain at my left arm? I stopped playing, checked my arm and noticed a blue String on the inner Side of the arm. I had heard of such a kind of hurts which happend to String Instrument Players and Pianists but also to Office workers on the Computer, caused by Always the Same arm movements of the muscles and strings and used a Special balm against the inflammation. And l realized that it was a mistake to skip the warming-up and to start suddenly with hard pieces. I stopped practizing the whole evening because it was late and I was tired and went to bed. The inflammation was gone Next morning and I do Not forget my warming-up before playing since this Thing.

[@TheZombieGAGA]

South Korea is amazing

[@sunglee500]

방송 잘만들고 깊이가 있는 알자지라 방송. 한국의 어떤 언론보다 깊이가 있다. Al jJazeera 방송이 아랍권과 아시아의 빛으로 계속되길. . .

[@andreadlove4833]

애를 자유롭게 스스로 하게 해주세요 ㅠㅠ

[@mariacholi3054]

Kids are not meant to play professionally when they are just 10 or even 15! I think kids until the age of 18 should go to school and do whatever every kid does at that age! When they reach the time where they have to choose what you will do for the rest of your life they can decide. They are not meant to reach the peak of their career when they are not adults yet! (This is a 12-year-old girls perspective)

[@nerdcartoon2544]

Sometimes guaranteeing a career at such age is the best thing a parent could provide to their children especially that nowadays job opportunities are declining

[@yanchenzhang4672]

This is a part of a question more in depth: what led to the popularities of Western music in East Asia? Conducting research on this question can make us understand the genuine attitude of the majority East Asians to the Western world and Western culture.

[@Nanamiogawa]

The answer to this question is basically rooted in the history of East Asia's contact with Western culture in the 18th century. China, Japan and Korea in the 18th century have their own respective and distinct music cultures, however when European, specially British and Dutch traders came in East Asia they also brought musical instruments with them. Introduction to the Western musical instruments sparked interest but not popularity because cultural nationalism is still at its height. However, the period of World War 2 and Japan's colonization of South Korea proved to be a turning point on the popularity of Western music in East Asia. Japan at that time, modeled its imperial government with Europe particularly Germany and Britain. European classical music is viewed as a culture associated with European enlightenment and affluence. European nobility and the rich all flaunt their knowledge about music, thus classical music became one of the cultures Japan strongly adapted in the Meiji period. The Japanese obsession with "curing Asia of its dumbness" resulted with standardized education curriculum that combines Japanese nationalism and European culture, particularly music and art. And because South Korea is a colony of Japan since the early 1900s, the education they instituted in Korea is at some level similar to the standardized Japanese with European culture. South Korean nobility albeit hostaged by the Japanese empire are educated in Japan with European art and music together with Japanese culture. Today, East Asians' love for classical music is pervasive because it is a culture associated with being affluent. In China, being rich means that you must be knowledgeable of the high-culture like Western classical music and culture. This is also the case with South Koreans because some of those who could only afford music lessons are those families with higher income threshold. However in Japan, classical music is simply part of the education system. I hope I answered your question.

[@yanchenzhang4672]

@@Nanamiogawa Wonderful comment. But Japan colonised the whole Korea from 1910-45, and then after World War II it gained independence from Japan and was split to become North and South Korea

[@Nanamiogawa]

@@yanchenzhang4672 it is indeed colonized for quite a short time if that's what you mean. But for the Koreans, that period is considered the most tragic and transformational period in their history. The proximity of Japan and Korea is even more reason why Japan was able to easily implement their imperialist government. Thus, the education and the art that Japanese nobility emulates also seeped into their Korean colonial subjects. Interest in Western culture and music started from this period and evolved to what you are seeing from this documentary.

[@Nanamiogawa]

@@yanchenzhang4672 and if you are doubting why Western music is still in Korea particularly in North Korea, you just have to look at the history of Korea and Russia. High-culture in Russia is influenced by French culture, thus, again, the same admiration for Classical music.

[@JohnLee-db9zt]

Simple. Soft power.

[@AnnetteBond]

Question: Do you think YoEun Seol’s mother is really helping her, or is she too critical or pushing her to hard?

[@daisysplaysworld208]

1:05

[@sherllytanara244]

Mom wants whats best for the child … careful, understand there is a thin line between giving a push and being domineering.

[@Rt-uu4yo]

I worry that she was not smiling much any more. She could get mentally and/or physically injured unless professionally looked after. It would be tragic if the girl has to give up her violin. Pearlman said no more than 5 hours of practice a day, and that too with breaks, and slowly rather than fast. If practiced correctly, her arm should not hurt.

[@daisysplaysworld208]

25:09

[@lazyscorpion3889]

Koreans need to give people a break, too much pressure has turned that country into a nightmare

[@sak_1017]

Im concerned abt the first girl

[@mariacholi3054]

You have to have more interests in your life and more things than just music because if you don’t succeed in it what are you gonna do?

[@nerdcartoon2544]

Totally agreed

[@violinbuff3782]

Pushing too much. Very gifted girl..don't ruin it. Well meaning mothers often not sensitive towards artistic development . Concerned more with their kids being the best and super PR hype.

[@lesliehunter1823]

Something is off about the sound. Too brittle or overcompressed maybe?

[@susannestechow3651]

Ich habe aber den Eindruck, dass die kleine Eun GERN spielt. Sie lacht sonst immer so niedlich dabei.

[@rechitsapivo]

What's wrong with parents? They either push too much or don't push at all. You HAVE TO push your child, just don't be a slave driver.

[@sis9010]

설요은 설씨로써 세계를 향해 이름을 널리알려다오

[@bluewater3216]

알자지라 얘네들은 항상 반한적인 영상들을 만드네

[@Daisy-wj4vu]

클래식 분야도 일찌기 한류가 점령하니 견제하죠.

[@melodylin2005]

Yoeun's mom is very strict

[@terryvaughn677]

Everyone is prone to loss.......

[@tonmarinaxxzz]

I think the mother is putting too much pressure on the little girl. She needs to back off and let the child be a child

[@annamanuki3881]

Those mean comments 😂 Pathetic!!!

[@wric01]

Small nation can only project influence / play the tune to the hearts of big nations. It's about survival not about prestige or anything else. Imagine a sudden invasion or takeover and no one objects. Vs the objection of ppl of power in other nations that love classical music.

[@KMartha22]

Poor child :(

[@stevenbyun]

All these child prodigies are specially programmed by "Ha Na Yim" in heaven, while they were in their mother's womb! And we marvel at how can they have the know-how in various fields that they are especially good in. Some people say that they are atheists and do not believe in God. But here are the proof that the Lord is the Creator, including themselves. It is very exciting that there are so many children who are so gifted in Korea! These are the national treasures to keep and be grateful for them..

[@zabrak999]

Apple > Samsung

[@krnpowr]

What does that have to do with this video or topic?

[@raghuvenkatesan6792]

@@krnpowr american company better than south korean

[@sinusrythm751]

@@raghuvenkatesan6792 immature comment

[@raghuvenkatesan6792]

@@sinusrythm751 true comment, salty reply

[@sinusrythm751]

@@raghuvenkatesan6792 Your comment is absolutely unnecessary .