2010 Ditto Festival, for beginners of classical music - Part 2

Q: The fest this year has snippets of 3D features incorporating multimedia. Is it because the Asian market more sensitive to this?
O'Neil: The Houston Symphony uses NASA images -- it's not a new concept. I think that its reach is worldwide, I don't think its just an Asian thing. and I believe that the music we work on, that we devote our lives to, speaks for itself. It's really great. It's cliche but it's universal. How it is presented a lot of the time is what I find difficult because you don't want to diminish the greatness of the music, you don't want to be disrespectful. But everything we present, the marketing and the clothes we bear, that's where we try to be a little more friendly. As I like to say, you open the door, we play our best and hopefully the music will speak for itself.

Q: Ji-Yong and Stephan Pi Jackiw, you also play solo. What are the differences between playing in an ensemble versus solo?
Ji-Yong: Playing solo and chamber music in a sense are very different things, different types of performances and the way you present yourself and reach out to the audience. I have come back and forth between Korea and the States quite a bit this year and I've found very interesting sides of the market here and the people I've worked with, not just musicians but dancers and fine artists as well. But when I come back during the summer for the DITTO tour, it's a given fact that when you're playing chamber music with other great musicians, you don't try step out you don't try to push your egotistical or kind or persona out to the performance. It's more of a well-rounded group and the understanding of others that comes out when you're playing chamber music. So when I come here to do ensemble with DITTO I have that mindset. And when I come here to play solo projects, I have a completely different approach to the person I want to be, that I give off to the audience.
Jackiw: I think it may be a little different for me. It doesn't feel all that different. I wouldn't feel that I consciously try to present myself in a different way. For me, whether I play as an orchestra, soloist or am playing a larger ensemble piece, I think it always sorts of feels the same. You try to communicate with the audience as much as possible but also really be tuned into what your upper musicians on stage are doing. And it's really great to be back for my third season with DITTO. I think DITTO has been a stepping stone into introducing me to the Korean audiences and through DITTO I've had a lot of other interesting projects. Playing with DITTO kind of opens new doors for me in Korea so it's great to be back.

Q: On the other hand, in your case Michael Nicolas, you are known to do chamber music quite often outside of DITTO. What color would you express DITTO as having?
Nicolas: Playing with DITTO is a wonderful experience for me. I play with chamber musicians all the time but I always look forward to the summers because these four colleagues are world-class musicians in themselves and i would like to consider them my very good friends. And so our rehearsals are very cordial and we do a lot of laughing, sometimes may be a little too much laughing and we find it hard to get some real work done. But when we want to get something done, they're very much the hardest working musicians I know and always listening. It's just a wonderful great experience. So I would say with all the colors of the rainbow in it. Let's say that, rainbow.

Q: The DITTO festival takes into consideration the actual talents of the musicians but their outside appearance has also been a hot topic because everyone is good-looking. Was there a reason you chose such young good-looking male members to participate?
Jackiw: One thing Yongjae said earlier is that the music speaks for itself but sometimes it helps to present classical music in a way that it attracts new audiences. And I think some people come to the DITTO because they're drawn to the way in which we're presented. They're interested in the posters, the trailer, and that draws them to the concerts but once they're at the concerts, the presentation doesn't became as important. The music takes center stage. These members chosen first and foremost based on what kind of musicians they are and whether they're good to work with and inspiring to work with, but at the same time we also wanted to sort of fit into the mold of DITTO, not music mold but conceptual re-imagination of a concert experience. But that never compromises or comes ahead of artistic choices.

Q: Would you consider letting a female musician join?
O'Neil: ...... Maybe.

Reporter : Jang Kyung-Jin three@
Photographer : Lee Jin-hyuk eleven@
Editor : Jessica Kim jesskim@