Composer Kym Hyogun, better known as a professor to Ewha students, presented his 13 songs through the jukebox musical “First Love.” The musical was on stage at Mapo Art Center from Sept. 2 to Sept. 4 in commemoration of the reopening of the center. It was the first attempt to turn a Korean art song, gagok, into a musical song. In late August, when the practice for the musical entered its final stretch, Ewha Voice met Professor Kym in the Mapo Art Center.
Professor Kym, who has been teaching business at Ewha for 30 years, is known as the most notable figure in the field of Korean art songs. Kym made his debut as a composer and lyric writer in 1981, winning the grand prize at the first MBC Campus Art Song Festival with his song “Snow.” His winning astonished the audience since he was not a student majoring in composition but economics.
Kym’s interest in music traces back to when he reached puberty. He has always been passionate about music, even during the times he stuck to research in business. Devoting himself to both composition and business, Kym realized that two areas that may seem irrelevant can be connected. He proposed a new paradigm in Business Administration by suggesting a concept of “Business Art,” asserting that Korea must expand its scope of business administration research and strategies in accordance with the “Business Art” paradigm.
According to Kym, modern Business Administration stemmed from the American mechanical engineer Frederick Winslow Taylor’s Principle of Scientific Management. Under the scientific management paradigm, Korea had been focused on providing products with moderate quality at reasonable prices. Kym diagnosed that Korean industries encountered a limit to sticking with the strategy since the 2010s, and it is time to adopt themechanism of art creation in scientific management system.
“The academia of Business Administration shall understand how humans receive the aesthetic impression and become a fan of a masterpiece,” Kym said. “Creating products and services that had never existed resembles the way of creating masterpieces in art. They both build fan-based relationships between producers and consumers.”
Emphasizing the synergy between Business Administration and art, Kym also made an attempt to improve the current art industry in the view of management. He established and is still operating an online platform, “ArtsLinker,” where artists can be connected to the public through an AI linking system.
“Artists can easily archive their portfolios and pieces on the ‘ArtsLinker’ and gain the attention of audiences who are willing to learn more about them,” Kym explained.
The musical “First Love” is also one of his attempts to allow Korean art songs to approach younger audiences who seldom listen to art songs. Kym pointed out that Korean art songs had their golden age until the 1990s when the revolution in the Korean pop song scene happened. While other genres of music that emerged later in the Korean music industry underwent multiple alterations, Korean art songs remained unchanged. Prevailingprejudice of considering art songs difficult to understand also hindered the audiences’ access to the art songs.
Preventing the decline of the Korean art songs genre, Kym found the breakthrough which is “Art Pop Song,” a new genre that pursues artistry and popularity at the same time. Kym has adopted some of the most refined elements from Pop and Jazz ballads into Korean art songs, which mainly consist of classic chords and renowned poetry since 2008.
“Eventually, in around 2014, Korean art songs started to be performed in concerts and appreciated by the audience again,” said Kym. “It is just the beginning of the renaissance in art songs which became a big trend in the composition and vocal music scene.”
Leading the trend, Kym actively worked as an art director of the musical “First Love” to further promote the charm of the art songs. Interacting with actors and staff at young age and seeing them touched by the art songs are the greatest gains from the pre- production.
“Thanks to the author, scenes and plots were well aligned with my art pop songs and actually illuminated the lyricism of my songs,” Kym stated.
Kym believes that his musical has enough factors to derive empathy from the audience of all ages, as the musical depicts passions, love, and dreams that all might once have.
“I hope the musical and my songs impress not only the senior audiences who are already familiar with the art songs but also the young audiences with lesser experiences with art songs,” Kym concluded.