by Keiran Campbell
First concert, Incheon:
6am: Wake up—the jet lag is very real, as Korea is 13 hours ahead of Toronto, and this is the first time in many years that I’ve dealt with such a time difference. My wife, Chloe Fedor, is playing violin on this tour, which makes this fantastic experience even more wonderful, as we are both seeing Korea for the first time (this totally counts as a vacation, right?).
After quickly getting ready, the two of us head upstairs to conquer the hotel breakfast, which is a heady, almost religious experience. We are greeted by a mix of both east and west—cappuccino, fruit juices, fried and boiled eggs, bacon, bibimbap (a traditional Korean dish which translates to bibim; mixing, and bap-cooked rice, which in this case consists of rice and various vegetables), bulgogi (thinly-sliced marinated beef, one of my favourites!), rusk (a twice-baked, sweet biscuit that is usually used for teething babies, although I still enjoyed it!), grilled mackerel, lychee, passion fruit (I went to town on those), and so on.
The breakfast room features a stunning view out on to the Incheon bridge, a 21.38 kilometer cable-stayed bridge, which connects New Songdo City, the location of our hotel, to the airport. This new section of Incheon started being developed on reclaimed land in 1994, and it features sparkling new high rises that sprout up at an astonishing rate. There is something very exciting about being in a section of a city that is truly being built before one’s eyes, and it is inspiring to see the attention to detail in all of the new developments- for example, a pleasant shopping district full of fantastic cafes and restaurants is nestled right next to a canal that runs through the lush Central Park. At one end of this park you can find the convention center and various residential, business, and educational buildings, and at the other, the Incheon Art Center where we will play in the evening.
7:30am: After our light feast, we decide to explore Central Park, where we find beautiful walking paths ensconced in great swaths of native reeds and other plants. The water in the canal/lake in the park is sparkling clean, and at one end of the lake there are numerous fantastically shaped boats, some looking like crescent moons and others like Cinderella’s carriage. We have a leisurely stroll through the park, and then we head back to the hotel for a bit of practising.
9:30am: For me, it is essential to find a bit of practice time each day on tour, as it helps to keep everything running smoothly. I start with some scales and then slowly work my way through some of the more tricky bits of our program (like the Bach Oboe and Violin Concerto!).
11:00am: Chloe and I join violist Brandon Chiu for a quick coffee and cake at Ruhen coffee roasters, a fantastic coffee shop located in the shopping district next to the park. We have coffees and try some of their cakes, which are airy and filled with fresh fruit and a subtle cream (we tried the kiwi, and Brandon had the fig).
12:30pm: We all gather in the hotel lobby to head over to the hall for a light lunch and dress rehearsal, and we find the hall to be quite beautiful. At approximately 2,000 seats, it is just a bit larger than TSP, but the sound is still warm and reverberant. We work through the program (which we also rehearsed the day before as well as back in September in Toronto), and finish up around 4pm. We all return to the hotel to eat some boxed dinner generously provided by our concert presenter, Eagon Concerts (mine contains bulgogi, squid in gochujang—a spicy and delicious Korean sauce—various pickled vegetables, and rice), and to change for the concert. Before we know it, it’s time to play!
7:30pm: The first concert on a tour always has that extra buzz and excitement around it, and this one is no exception! It is a joy to share this music in a place that I personally have never visited before, and the joy is shared by all. The audience is extremely enthusiastic, which truly lifts us up, and they especially like when Brandon Chiu makes a quick speech in Korean! For encores, we play an Maeri-rang, a traditional Korean folksong arranged by Jung Hyun Kim, which is a tradition for all Eagon concerts. Months before the shows, they hold a competition to see who can make the best arrangement of these traditional folk songs, and I find this to be highly meaningful: it connects us with the community, and the audience seemed to really love it. The piece starts out with a texture of shimmering pizzicati and tremolos in the strings, and when Rachel enters with the lilting and soaring theme, the audience bursts into sudden applause. We also play a jaunty rendition of the Bourrees from Bach’s C Major Orchestral Suite, and Rachel then plays a beautiful Bach G-minor Adagio.
10pm: Rachel, Pat, Julie, and I go to the lobby for program signing, which is quite fun, as it gives us a chance to chat with the audience, as well as a little opportunity to practice some Korean (my vocabulary is somewhat limited to “hello,” “thank you,” “really?” “stop,” “grandma,” “pig,” and “mountain bunny”—some of those are more useful than others in this situation).
Around 1am: Time for bed! Most of us skip the post-concert celebration tonight, as the next morning we leave to drive to Daegu, which is about 4 hours away (how else would I find time to write this?). We will have a 5pm concert not long after arriving in the city, so we must conserve some energy. More from me soon!
Keiran Campbell was drawn to the cello after he stumbled across one in his grandmother’s basement and was baffled by its size. Once he turned 8, he began taking lessons—on a much smaller cello—in his native Greensboro, North Carolina. After studying extensively with Leonid Zilper, former solo cellist of the Bolshoi Ballet, he received his Bachelors and Masters at the Juilliard School, working with Darrett Adkins, Timothy Eddy, and Phoebe Carrai. Keiran also spent several springs in Cornwall, England, studying with Steven Isserlis and Ralph Kirshbaum at Prussia Cove.
Join us at Brilliant Baroque
Wish you were on tour? Tafelmusik and Rachel Podger bring the music of their South Korean tour home to Jeanne Lamon Hall with Brilliant Baroque, January 31-February 2, 2025.
Tour generously sponsored by
