On the 24th (local time), students sang Arirang together in the basement auditorium of Democracy Prep Harlem High School in Harlem, New York, to the piano performance of world-renowned soprano Sumi Jo.
Among the 300 students gathered in the auditorium, there were some who joked around saying ‘Arirang ~ go away ~’, but soon they shouted “I love you” in Korean and drew hearts with their hands in response to Mr. Cho’s enthusiastic singing. It was Jo Su-mi’s free ‘Hope Concert’ for students.
Mr. Cho said, “There are a lot of difficult things in the world these days, and I heard that there were a lot of bad things (between races) in New York,” and “I wanted to show the unity that transcends everything through music.”
When he performed ‘Climb Every Mountain’ from the movie ‘The Sound of Music’, which was not on the program, to Jens Riedemann’s trumpet performance, the response was enthusiastic. Mr. Cho said, “Like the lyrics, it contains the hope that students will find their dreams.” After the performance, students lined up in a long line to get his autograph.
Democracy Prep is an autonomous public school with many black and Hispanic students, but has deep ties to Korea. Studying Korean is mandatory, and students with excellent grades are sent on a trip to Korea. Joseph Jokotoye (17), who has been to Korea before, said, “Learning the Korean language and history felt beautiful. “Today’s performance was really beautiful,” he said.
View largerSoprano Sumi Jo and Democracy Prep Harlem High School students are singing Arirang. New York = New York =
Source: Donga
Mark Jones is a world traveler and journalist for News Rebeat. With a curious mind and a love of adventure, Mark brings a unique perspective to the latest global events and provides in-depth and thought-provoking coverage of the world at large.