Dari – Premieres that Bridge in Review
Salley Koo, violin
Dawn Dongeun Wohn, violin
Daniel McDonough, cello
Alexander Solomon, piano
Bargemusic, Brooklyn, NY
May 17, 2025
Dari means “bridge” in Korean; this is what Salley Koo, a Korean-American violinist and Professor at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, told us during her recent performance at Bargemusic. Ms. Koo, using funding from the Campus Research Board of the said University, commissioned six Korean composers to write new works for her and her friends (violinist Dawn Dongeun Wohn, cellist Daniel McDonough, and pianist Alexander Solomon) to perform. In fact, as Ms. Koo kindly explained to us, each composer was asked to write two works: one for the performers I’ve mentioned (either solo, or in different combinations) and a companion piece, less challenging musically and technically, for Ms. Koo’s students to learn and hopefully present in concert, alone or side by side with their mentor. This project was meant to “bridge the gap” between Ms. Koo’s self-proclaimed enthusiasm in promoting new music (especially reflecting her heritage) and her students’ reluctance to tackle contemporary repertoire, both in the classroom and on stage. Sadly, on Saturday afternoon – when two performances took place, one at 2:00 pm and another at 4:00 pm – the relatively small audience was treated only to the first category of works (those written for Ms. Koo and her colleagues) while the second category (the pieces written for the students, which presumably had a much more evident educational purpose) were nowhere to be heard. I would have liked to see (and listen to) Ms. Koo perform along with one or two of her disciples these newly commissioned works, and perhaps then I could have better understood the educational value of this project. As it was, the result felt more like a vanity project for Ms. Koo rather than a much-needed and interesting foray into the rewards of exposing the younger generation to fresh and exciting new works.
The audience could find a piece of paper on each seat, prompting us to use a QR code if we wanted more information about the concert, the artists, and the works to be performed. I did so diligently, and the code sent me to the Bargemusic website where, after a bit of online fumbling, I was directed to the calendar of concerts. There I could see the names of the performers and the titles of the works, but nothing else; however, there was a link (which I had to copy and paste into my browser) which sent me to Ms. Koo’s site, where more details could be found about the Dari project. Alas, still no detailed program of the concert! After more research done with a certain amount of embarrassment, since I am a strong advocate of the “no cellphone use” policy at LIVE concerts, I finally found a link which sent me to a .pdf file in which all the information I was looking for could be found. So, from this moment on, every time I wanted to look up something in connection to what was being played on stage, I had to check my phone and possibly look (to the outside observer) as if I were texting or browsing the Internet instead on listening attentively- and I thought that we were making concentrated efforts to encourage people to disconnect from devices and give their full attention to the performance!
And now on to the pieces on the program- first came a solo violin work by Leo Chang, titled 78924, which was about as exciting as the title. Ms. Koo, accompanied by sound effects recorded on tape, produced long, sustained notes which eventually – through a series of waves of crescendos and decrescendos – became louder and more ominous.
The second piece, by Texu Kim, was called Lots of As and a bunch of Bs – and it was exactly that! Still, the two performers (Ms. Koo was joined here by Dawn Dongeun Wohn) did their best and made reference, for the only time during the concert, to the raison’d’être of the project: the piece evoked a professor-student “in class” exploration of techniques, sonorities, and modes of expression.
The first concert ended with Juri Seo’s piano trio July Mountain, which offered a fairly traditional soundscape along with beautiful teamwork between the three performers. This piece had more substance than the previous works and was very enjoyable to listen to. I spotted some influences from Michael Nyman’s movie soundtracks, heavy on atmosphere, but I found the acoustic of the place too resonant (frankly, loud) for the intimate effects that the music required.
For the 4:00 pm concert, Ms. Koo was back in her lovely traditional Korean outfit, matched by her usual cheer and sparkle, and started with Matthew Jihoon Pellegrino’s Sanjo Sonata. She played many notes, with obvious prowess and control, but the meaning of the music remained strangely opaque to my ears. While I am a strong advocate for using sheet music during a performance, I did wonder if perhaps memorizing the piece would have given Ms. Koo a wider perspective on the meaning of this work and help her rise above the technicalities in order to shape the content better. One of the characteristics of the work – as described in the program notes I was reading on my phone – is to increase speed from one section to the next. I very much enjoyed this concept, but I didn’t find that the tempo acceleration was matched by progress in intensity or drama.
At the heart of the second program was The unreal never lived by Kyong Mee Choi, a work for piano and violin. This work felt a bit long, but it was played with true commitment by both artists who seemed more emotionally invested here than in the other pieces on the program. The many dynamic contrasts were fully persuasive, and you could feel the energy emanating from these two talented musicians.
Hee Yun Kim’s piano trio Reboot closed the concert and transported us to a different era, in which melody and harmony still reigned supreme. I admit it was lovely to listen to tango-like rhythms and phrases of luscious lyricism, which are rarer and rarer in today’s musical language. I enjoyed listening to each musician – and they all had their moments to shine! By the end of the piece, I did feel that its intentions were not fully realized, and by trying to be more accessible it became somewhat aimless and facile; but I still applaud Ms. Kim’s courage to use older tools in crafting a work for our times!
Since these two concerts were presumably meant to bridge a gap of understanding and appreciation between two generations of artists and encourage the younger ones to open up spiritually and professionally to new ways of making music, I wondered – again – if by commissioning such an ample project Ms. Koo is any closer to her declared goal. I sincerely hope so. On the other hand, there were so few young(er) people present on Saturday, and I’m sorry to report that a young man of 14 or 15, who was sitting directly behind me during the first concert, was fast asleep by the time the last note was played. The applause did wake him up, though, and perhaps that is suggestive of the fact that, even if we don’t necessarily understand something right away, being able to experience it (and witnessing other people’s enthusiasm about it) could be enough to spark one’s interest! And that is already an accomplishment.
