Finns pick a Korean principal
OrchestrasThe South Korean Kyeong Ham yesterday won a two-day audition for the post of principal oboe of Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra.
That was the easy bit.
Now he’ll have to learn Finnish.
Good luck with that.
Kyeong Ham came top in the 2017 ARD competition and has since been principal oboe at Staatsoper Hannover.
In Helsinki he will also serve as a part time tutor at the Sibelius Academy University of Arts .
For me as a Finn that’s not surprice at all!
He’s already member of FRSO since 2018 (after leaving Concertgebouw orchestra) when he was appointed to associate principal chair. So when information by upcoming principal audition was coming, I already knew that he must be winner – and now he is!
And I’m quite sure that he can speake Finnish a little bit because he has been here for four years.
He’s currently the second oboe, so I guess he’s making progress on the Finnish.
So Jorma Valjakka is retiring? He’s a wonderful player. But he’s been there quite a while.
I remember someone saying that it was actually impossible for an adult to learn Hungarian – I wonder if that also applies to Finnish? (Obviously it’s possible to learn enough to get by on).
Mr. Lebrecht. I know Kyeong personally. He did not want the result publicized in this manner. Do you ever bother to ask people before you post this kind of info? If you had he would have asked you not to!
I don’t know Mr. Lebrecht personally, but I don’t think he’s Kyeong Ham’s PR agent. He’s a reporter. Publish on Mr. Lebrecht! I’ll let you know if your next article is in bad taste, inaccurate, or unethical.
Why would it be harder for him to learn Finnish than any other language? He already speaks at least Korean, German and English, learning a new language will be the least of his worries. Remember, he is not a native English speaker.
I have never met anyone from Scandinavia who isn’t basically fluent in English. Assuming that they have a few more international players in their orchestra, I’d be surprised if the language they all communicate with each other is actually Finnish…
With the caveat that evidence can be anecdotal, and all generalizations have inherent flaws, I would like to have the community reaction to the question:
which is a more difficult proposition, a Korean to learn Finnish,
or, a Finn to learn Korean?
I would be interested to know the answer to that.
I’m learning Korean at the moment and it’s extremely difficult.
Why is nationality always so important to you, Norman?
Congratulaciones! AND Merry Christmas!
Scandinavian orchestras operate in English, no? Nevertheless, apparently it’s easier for
I would imagine they do much of the time, since many of the conductors they work with probably don’t speak the local language. And I’d imagine a Finnish conductor might speak to a non-Finnish musician in English.