Breathmark Suejin Jung

• Kyong Mee Choi: Until Heard:
• 1Choi: Until Heard10:33
• Claude Debussy (1862 - 1918): Les sons et les parfums tournent dans l'air du soir:
• 2Debussy: Les sons et les parfums tournent dans l'air du soir04:18
• Ce qu'a vu le vent d'Ouest:
• 3Debussy: Ce qu'a vu le vent d'Ouest04:06
• Frédéric Chopin (1810 - 1849): Barcarolle, Op.60:
• 4Chopin: Barcarolle, Op.6009:12
• Jarosław Kapuściński (b. 1964): Side Effects:
• 5Kapuściński: Side Effects: I. Birds Landing01:17
• 6Kapuściński: Side Effects: II. Earth Mover01:37
• 7Kapuściński: Side Effects: III. Dock02:44
• 8Kapuściński: Side Effects: IV. Canoe01:39
• 9Kapuściński: Side Effects: V. Beach Comber00:59
• 10Kapuściński: Side Effects: VI. Waterslide00:53
• 11Kapuściński: Side Effects: VII. Cemetry01:47
• 12Kapuściński: Side Effects: VIII. Harvest01:21
• 13Kapuściński: Side Effects: IX. Bridge01:22
• 14Kapuściński: Side Effects: X. Icebreaker02:47
• Jean-Philippe Rameau (1683 - 1764): Le rappel des oiseaux:
• 15Rameau: Le rappel des oiseaux03:05
• Scott Ordway (b. 1984): Breathmark:
• 16Ordway: Breathmark10:56
• Total Runtime58:36

Info for Breathmark

Nature is my sanctuary and source of creative energy; I retreat to it whenever I find myself overwhelmed by stress or questioning my purpose. The grandiose, expansive, and symbolic styles in the music of Rameau, Chopin, and Debussy depict what I see and feel in nature—joy, hope, and love.

I am transported into nature when I play my piano part in Kyong Mee Choi’s, musique concrete composition “Until Heard,” which features raw recordings and electronically produced sounds of nature. My organic senses are revitalized in ways piano acoustics alone have never done.

When I came across Jaroslaw Kapusincski’s audio-visual composition “Side Effect,” I immediately fell in love with its incredible marriage of sound and visual landscape. The music follows ten short videos, each shot 150 meters above ground in Poland by photographer and pilot Kacper Kowalski. The aerial view reveals beautifully how humans and nature can coexist symbiotically and aesthetically.

The feature “Breathmark” track (Goodmesh Concours 2020 Entry Project) explores our collective need to address the climate crisis and social injustice. It was a collaboration between myself, as the pianist and creative director, composer Scott Ordway, animator Qi Lu, and dancer Jada German. After completing this project, I knew there was more to be done.

The reality of the climate crisis today leaves us in a dissonant environment: extreme hurricanes, endangered species, ice sheets melting, accidental, but devastating wildfires. To put together this hour-long musical puzzle, I mixed the standard repertoires of Rameau, Chopin, and Debussy with new contemporary music—an interesting juxtaposition of what nature represented for composers back then and now. The blended tones of classical and contemporary music with other forms of art, express the inexpressible: harmony in this cacophonous world.

My mixed emotions of awe, mystery, dream, trepidation and hope for nature and humanity have been strung together in this multimedia program. It is a deep dive into exploring our unique, magical relationship with the natural world.

I hope my Breathmark album will bring awareness to the climate crisis and social injustices–and inspire change. I believe that the mysterious forces of awe, spirituality, and beauty we feel when we confront nature is a collective experience. The music I present reminds us of our unique relationship with nature.

Let’s nurture it one breath at a time.

Suejin Jung, piano

Suejin Jung
Noted for “stepping outside the box – artistically and personally”, Suejin Jung leads a distinctive international career as a concert pianist and multimedia artist. Her immersive performances and commitment to engage with the important questions of our time has led her to curate numerous multimedia projects that unite sound, visual and media. Her multimedia project “Breathmark”, that focuses on the themes of climate and racial injustice won first prize in the 2020 Goodmesh Concours in the Netherlands. Her debut album releases in April with TRPTK recording label. Supported by grants including the New York Foundation for the Arts, Suejin breaths new life into classical and contemporary repertoires through her interdisciplinary collaborations.

As a multifaceted musician, Suejin has been invited to perform as a collaborative pianist at festivals such as Music Academy International, Ecoles d’Art Américaines de Fontainebleau, Music in the Vineyard, and New York International Piano Competition. She serves as piano collaborator at the California State University Fullerton. She has been a featured soloist with Ensemble Calliopée , Ruse Philharmonic Orchestra, Rutgers Symphony Orchestra, The Discovery Orchestra, Virtuosi Brunesis Orchestra, Monmouth Symphony Orchestra and her performances have been broadcasted and live-streamed on PBS and The Strad.

Suejin received bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the Juilliard School, as a recipient of Kamiya Sisters, Paul Jacobs Memorial, and G.G. Ulmer Memorial Scholarships. She was a recipient of the 2019-2020 Harriet Hale Woolley Scholarship and studied rare works of 20th century female French composers with Anne Queffélec at the Ecole Normale de Musique de Paris during this time. She is a Doctoral candidate at the Rutgers University Mason Gross School of the Arts.

As an educator, Suejin has served as a faculty member at Drew University, Rutgers University Extension Division, New York Music School, and PS 11 in Manhattan as an Education Outreach Fellow through the Juilliard School. Suejin is a Steinway Education Partner, and currently based in Orange County, California.

Booklet for Breathmark