Soprano Jo Sumi Shares Video Singing Carols While Playing Piano on SNS

[Asia Economy Reporter Byunghee Park] Soprano Jo Sumi shared a video on her social media (SNS) in which she plays the piano herself and sings carols to celebrate Christmas.

In the video titled "Little Christmas Concert 2020," Jo Sumi plays the piano and sings a medley of Christmas carols alternating between English and Korean, including "O Come, All Ye Faithful (Ora Shindoora, Keuge Gippeohara)," "O Holy Night (Georukhan Bam)," "White Christmas," "Silent Night Holy Night (Goyohan Bam Georukhan Bam)," "We Wish You a Merry Christmas (Jeulgeoun Christmas Doeseyo)," and "Christmas Blessing (Christmaseneun Chukbeogeul)."

Jo Sumi is currently in Italy, where COVID-19 cases are rapidly increasing. Despite the difficult and challenging conditions, she filmed the video in a small studio with strict adherence to quarantine rules and with a minimal number of people, aiming to deliver a message of healing and communication along with musical enjoyment to many.

Originally, the accompanist who was supposed to join this project suddenly tested positive for COVID-19, so Jo Sumi practiced the piano herself and sang the carols while playing. This is the first time since her debut as a soprano that Jo Sumi has shared a video of herself sitting at the piano, playing and singing.

Jo Sumi said, "The only thing I can give is music, so I wanted to gift you carols. This is the first time I have tried playing the piano and singing to show this to you. Just as I have been healed during this time, I hope warm comfort reaches you as well. I also sincerely hope that everyone takes good care of themselves and that we all overcome this difficult time well."

As a surprise guest, Italian tenor and guitarist Federico Paciotti joined her. Paciotti is a tenor with a unique background, having grown up as a rock band guitarist and studied vocal music at Santa Cecilia. He is the composer of "Here as ONE," the official theme song of the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Paralympics, which Jo Sumi sang to wish for peace, and he also performed on Jo Sumi's nationwide tour concert "Mother Dear" last year.

Paciotti is also the son of Jo Sumi's close friend who recently passed away due to COVID-19. In July, Jo Sumi and Paciotti released a digital single titled "Life is A MIRACLE," which carries hope to commemorate COVID-19 victims and reclaim precious moments of life.

Jo Sumi will celebrate the 35th anniversary of her overseas stage debut next year. She is spending busy days focusing on practice and recording for several album releases, including a Russian language album. Recently, Jo Sumi also released her audiobook autobiography "My Life, My Song" in Korean and English in over 20 countries through the audiobook platform Storytel.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.