When we do not know where to go, we can listen to some story of Hyowonian, who took a step forward in this special article, “Hyowon In(人)side.” The third interviewee of this special article is Seo Hee-Tae (Dept. of Music, 84), a conductor who plays beautiful music in the KNN Philharmonic Orchestra.

“Channel PNU” met Conductor Seo Hee-Tae in the Channel PNU studio and listened to him on October 31st. He was also a role model of Kang Mae of “Beethoven Virus,” a professional classic music drama. He said humbly, “My goal is to make a beautiful orchestra with members in the given environment.”

△ I heard you encountered various musical fields, from violin and vocal music, to conduct.

- My final goal was to be a conductor. The only way to be a conductor was to learn vocal music at the age when I attended school in 1984. I minored in violin at PNU, and there was no department of conducting anywhere in the country. Therefore, I studied abroad in Austria and majored in conducting.

△ I heard your family opposed your opinion of being a musician in the 3rd grade of high school.

-There were many thoughts like “If you work on music, you would be a “Ddan-da-ra,” and “You can’t live well if you make music.” However, I thought differently. I would regret it someday if I could not do it because of my parent’s decision, but I sincerely liked and wanted to do it. I lied to my homeroom teacher just before the submission of the application without my father’s consent. My father didn’t know that, and he thought I was applying for medical school. I was kicked out of the house after that day. I didn’t get any economic support, of course. Even after all that, I have never regretted the decision of that time. I am proud of myself that I have lived harder than anyone to vouch for that decision. 

△ You acted as an artistic director and a role model of Kang Mae in the MBC drama, “Beethoven Virus,” in 2008. I wonder how it felt to be a role model of that drama.

-I didn’t mean to be a role model for the drama at first. It started from when we could make a drama based on an orchestra with a MBC writer and director at that time, and the producer suggested proposed me as the artistic producer. To digest the role of Kang Mae, Kim Myeong-Min kept seeing my musical performance and learned how the conductor supervises and leads the members. As he mimicked my hairstyles and my ways of talking, I naturally became a role model of Kang Mae. I’m not fastidious and inhuman like Kang Mae, in real life.

△ What was the most memorable performance among all your performances so far?

-I got suggested to do an accompaniment for a short program as the first orchestra in the world at “Kim Yeon-Ah’s Ice Show,” in 2009. In fact, it was such a burden. Humans make music, so it can’t be the same every time. Music can be faster or slower if people get depressed. Even a slight slowdown or speedup of music in a short program can lead to a big mistake, and I had to take on all the responsibilities. Therefore, my friends and people tried to stop me, but it was exciting for me to challenge myself to do something that others haven’t done. I practiced as much as I could conduct without seeing the sheet music, and just seeing the performance of Kim Yeon-Ah. I always thought, “There is nothing that cannot be done,” as I have made many new attempts.

△Why do you emphasize “communication” as you are called a conductor who communicates?

- If no one is watching our performance, that is so meaningless. It is vital to deliver the things I thought as I play the song through communicating with the audiences. For example, there were three songs with feelings of mourning in our performance yesterday. Thus, I gave commentary to the audiences, “This song which we play now can be the remembrance to them. Please appreciate this song with the heart of remembrance.”

△Please introduce the moment of feeling good as a conductor.

-I feel worthy every time I perform. Although there were many glorious domestic or overseas moments, I feel the most rewarded when I play with children and volunteer with presents in Jumong Rehab Center every Christmas. I had promised to come every year, and I have kept that promise for 18 years.

November 1st of this year was the 40th anniversary of the founding of the College of Arts in PNU. Our alums decided to make an orchestra and play on the campus to celebrate it. It would be a meaningful performance that my alums play at our university for the first time. I met my college mates at the first practice. It felt weird that we met each other soon before our 60th birthdays.

△ Please introduce the most memorable scene when you attended our university’s Department of Music.

-I mostly heard, “Why does he disappear every day after school?” As I said, I was independent because I didn’t get the economic support from my family. So, I went to work after school as soon as it was over. I had various jobs, such as external sales of an encyclopedia, sales of the workbook, violin lessons, and vocal music lessons. I remember working at the school construction site the most. It maybe was the new construction of the College of Home Affairs (present: The College of Natural Science and Life Science). While my friends were walking as they smiled right next to me, I carried a burden. The senior who kept an eye on me said at that time, “Seo Hee-Tae, you are a guy that will appear in the desert with a coke.” I remember that the most.

△ I’m curious about what kind of conductor you want to be remembered as and what goal you want to achieve.

-This may seem strange, but I always have lived without a big goal. My goal was so small. The thing I pursue the most is a “happy life.” I don’t want to be the most outstanding conductor in the world or a conductor representing Korea. I hope to make the most beautiful orchestra with members in the given environment.

I realized that we could gain happiness without tremendous success as I have lived this life. For that reason, I think the relationship with close people is the most important for me. If my work has some good influence on society, I feel immense happiness from that.

△ There are students who are thinking about “whether I should go to the way I like” or “whether I should go to the way that can get a job easily.” Please tell us your opinion as a “Hyowonian,” who went on a path of a musician as you like.

-There is nothing harder than doing things you like. As you do what you want, you must take on the responsibility. Accordingly, I would like to say, “Live a life without regretting,” rather than say, “Do things you like.” I would definitely regret it if I didn’t decide to be a musician when I was 20 years old. I would be so happy to live a life doing the things I like, of course, but I think the important thing is not doing things that cause regret.

Reporter Kim Hyeon-Hee

Translated by Lee Yoon-Seo