Music instructor Robert Palmer worked with Jooyoung Kim and Mirinae Kim on their piano for 60 hours in the fall. The duo also practiced playing for hundreds of hours on their own, working to perfect their performances for an upcoming test.
In November 2008, the graduate students won third place at the International Sergey Taneyev Chamber Music Competition, a prominent ensemble music contest held annually in Moscow. Jooyoung Kim and Mirinae Kim won for outstanding foreign chamber music ensemble.
"To find the time to be able to enter an international competition and to do this well is really a wonderful accomplishment," Palmer said. "So that requires tremendous sacrifice from their part."
Jooyoung Kim is studying for her doctoral degree at Ball State University. Mirinae Kim will obtain her artist diploma from Ball State in May. Originally from Seoul, South Korea, both students have studied in Europe and are also completing graduate assistantships in the Ball State School of Music.
Palmer mentored Jooyoung Kim and Mirinae Kim during their practice for the competition. He said because many ensembles competing were Russian, the jury handed out an award for a foreign ensemble.
Palmer said the pair had participated in several music competitions as solo pianists, and this was their first time competing as a team.
"The solo piano is a more traditional vehicle for competition," Palmer said. "There are literally thousands of competitions for solo pianists all over the world, but there are very few chamber music ensemble competitions worldwide."
There is a different list of pieces for both solo and ensemble genres, Palmer said. He said learning a musical piece as an ensemble requires a different mind set.
"When performing as a soloist you only care about what you are playing," he said. "However, in an ensemble, not only do you have to know your part really well, but you also have to realize and understand how does that part fit into the other part of the piece."
The duo's performance had a repertoire of five pieces varying from composers such as Johannes Brahms to Dmitri Shostakovich, which summed more than 80 minutes, Palmer said.
The competition had three rounds. In the preliminary selection round, a jury listened to recorded pieces played by the ensembles. The selected ensembles played in front of the jury at the second and third rounds.
Jooyoung Kim said she remembered the hours of work she and Mirinae Kim put into their practice and how nervous she felt during the competition.
"Sometimes we practiced eight hours each day, because we practiced by ourselves and then together," she said. "The competition was very strict. We were competing against many other countries, the judges were focusing on how we were playing and the audience was rather small."
Mirinae Kim said the competition was an exciting experience despite her nerves. She said she was amazed when the jury handed them the title of outstanding foreign chamber music ensemble.
"I was very happy to know we had won the third place," she said. "I really wanted to end up in a good position, but I never expected to get a third place and another special prize."
Both graduate students have done well at several competitions in the past. In January 2007 Jooyoung Kim made it to semifinals in the Bosendorfer International Piano Competition, and later that year she won second place at the 12th biennial international piano competition. Mirinae Kim made it to the finals at the Brahms international competition and has participated in many other music contests.
While in Moscow, the pair performed in a concert at the Tchaikovsky conservatory after the competition.
"The concert was quite different," Jooyoung Kim said. "During the concert I was able to relax and enjoy the piece with the audience."
Jooyoung Kim said she looked forward to participating at future competitions.
"I like competition," she said. "I will ask my instructor what competition will be the right one for me and my career."
Read More
Three Air Jam teams take home the win
October 12, 2012Nineteen teams shimmied, shook and flipped for a sold out John R. Emens Auditorium on Thursday night during the 25th annual Air Jam.
Bill Clinton Speaks at North Central High School
October 12, 2012Former President's Speech Could Have Effect on State Senate Race
