We spent Tuesday night and most of Wednesday at the mountain retreat and teaching studio of Mr. Park Soo Kwan, a master of traditional (eastern) Korean folk song.  He has performed at Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center in New York, and throughout Europe and Asia.  He gave us a short concert at his personal rehearsal space, which is a cave in the valley behind the cabins above.

 

We even had a hootenanny featuring ukulele and American pop songs.   Mr. Park is so steeped in traditional music that he never even listens to Mozart, so we’re not sure what he thought of  “Oh Susanna” and “Rocky Mountain High” and “Keep On Paddling” but he sat in on janggu (Korean hourglass drum) as best he could.

 

Mr. Park has 100 students, 95 of them women.  As Marge Simpson would say,  “Hmmmmmm . . . ”