TeRra Han Embraces Pierre Boulez in Her Own Words

New interpretation of French Piano Masterpiece in an Asian Zither

-12 Notation for Piano (Pierre Boulez, 1945) arranged kayageum

-Korean functional vibrato Nonghyun in systematic was applied to piano's keyboard equal tempered 

Pierre Boulez' s piano solo piece '12 Notations Pour Piano' is revived as a 12, 100% silk string zither of Asia. It is the 12 Notations for Kayageum, which is one of the most beloved traditional instrument of Korea. The heroin of the work is TeRra Han, Korean young kayageum virtuoso well-known for her authentic Asian classical musicianship undoubtedly. The 12 Notations for Kayageum will be released as single album and notation book in USA Nov. published by Poly Music., it will be on TeRra Han's official website (www.terrahan.com) iTunes, Google Play, Amazon, iBook, and others in digital forms. The French Institute of French Embassy officially sponsored the album and notation book honorably.

12 Notations for Piano was composed by Pierre Boulez in 1945 at his age of 20, and later it became well known for the arrangement of orchestra piece. Although most of the twelve movements are based on his own ideas with less than a minute, the entire structure of the piece has unity. Ms. Han explained that she rearrange rhythm and pitches such elements of keyboard of piano adopting nonghyun which means vibrato in Korean language, the Nonghyun has systematic clear functions in Korean traditional music features. TeRra Han arranged the 12 notations for traditional 12 string kayageum in original since 18C, not for modern kayageum despite of its convenience to play in order to educe the meaning of the space among the each sounds.

Not only for the Pierre Boulez's, Ms. Han has been particularly connected with French arts and artists. She had had a recital in Ecole nationale superieure des Beaux-Arts during her stays in Paris 2011-2. She has been collaborating with prominent French artists such as visual artist Benjamin Efrati, electronic musician Richard Pinhas. In 2016, celebrating 130 years of diplomatic relations of France and Korea, she had a recital, REVELATION series 2 at the Korean music Mecca Sejong Center in Seoul officially sponsored by the Institut Franais. For this recital, TeRra Han had interpreted Korean and French classical music pieces in her own words  with the participation of Erwan Richard, French violist. Through the solos and duets of the artist and one can see the genius of Baudelaire, the Korean court music of the 11th century, but also the French and modern classical music.

She arranged and performed by herself "Le cygne" by Saint-Sans, and works by Marin Marais, Claude Achille Debussy, Carl Maria von Weber, etc. and her own composition "MA DoNNA" inspired by the French poet Charles Baudelaire and Korean Sanghwa Lee.

TeRra Han is one of the most internationally claimed musicians for Asian traditional music, not even of Korea's, she was a child prodigy started playing piano, and at age four, she entered Korean classical music age 6. She trained Asian music and culture at the Tokyo University of the Arts in Japan and at the Central Music Academy in China and also studied North Korea's music. She graduated from Seoul National University and was the first grantee of  Asian Cultural Council, the Rockefeller Blanchette Foundation in the United States. It has attracted international attention such as her debut as the youngest person in the New York Carnegie Hall. In 2016, she was admitted as a voting member of the Grammy Awards, rarely for Asian musician. She released more than 10 solo albums, and in February she launched the Asian music magazine "TeRra". She is scheduled to recitals and release her own compositions in New York in November.

by Sakamoto Ken (kensakamoto@gmail.com)