Han TerraFRSAFRASFRHS (Korean: 한테라; born March 30, 1982) is a South Korean–born inventor, composer and musician. She was a child prodigy and was performing by age 6 as a Korean kayageum player beginning her training at the age of 4. She has invented a 24 stringed musical instrument called TeRra incorporating artificial intelligence.[1]
Han is the first and the youngest individual kayageum musician of Blanchette Rockefeller Fund[2] and who had a debut in the Carnegie Hall in New York City.[3] She was admitted a voting member of the Grammy AwardsofThe Recording Academy as few East Asian traditional musicians.[4][5] Han is honored to be appointed as fellow of the Royal Society of Arts in a feat accomplished by few East Asian traditional musicians in the United Kingdom.
She is known as a polymath in the areas of music, instruments, arts, dance, linguistics, philosophy, psychology, history, literature, writing, journals, fashion, design, technology, science and aesthetics.[6][7][8][9] She is the only one figure who mastered the Eastern traditional arts singing and dancing accompanied with the Western Classical Music in Korea, Japan, China, India, France, and has been performing globally since.
Han was born in Seoul, South Korea. Her birth name was Laesuk ("Advent of Goodness" or "Goddess"). She got the Buddhist name 'Myeong-wol' (명월, 明月), which means 'bright moon', from a Buddhist priest in her teens. Han also uses the pseudonym Dan-young (단영, 澶濴). She adopted the name 'TeRra' based on the name of the earth goddessTerra in the 2000s.[citation needed]
Han is a member of the Cheongju Han clan family.[10] The clan is well known for a long tradition of the women members of royal consorts produced the largest numbers of 16 queens in Korean history. Her maternal grandmother's family was in the fashion and textile business and moved from Japan to Korea in the late 1920s.[11][12][13][14][15]
Han trained East Asian traditional performing arts at the prestigious institutes. She studied Korean traditional performing arts forms at National Gugak Middle and High School which is one of Korean government subsidiaries of National Gugak Center. She obtained a PhD degree as well as B.A and M.A degrees in music from Seoul National University under Kim Il Ryun, Chae-suk Lee, and Jeongja Kim.[21]
Active as a concerto soloist since age 12, Han collaborated with music orchestras such as Seoul Metropolitan Korean Music Orchestra, National Orchestra of Korea, Jeonju Korean Music Orchestra, Daejeon Korean Music Orchestra with conductors such as Jaewon Lim,[25] Pyeonryong Lim,[26] and Sangil Han. Han has been performing solo recitals in venues such as Sejong Center, National Korean Music Center, Suginami Public Hall and Carnegie Hall in New York City. Han was a charter kayageum player of the National Traditional Music Youth Orchestra of Korea in 2003, and became the youngest Kayageum player of the Seongnam Municipal Korean Classical Music Orchestra.[27] Presently, she is a member of the Asian Zither's Association. She is a member of Asian Musicology.[28]
Han recorded Korean all royalty's music repertoires of kayageum solo version as the first kayageum soloist following her Cheongju Han family tradition.
Han's first composition happened at age of 8, it was published in her elementary school's annual journal. She was already arranging piano pieces to kayageum when she was early child ages such as by Mozart, Bach. She also wrote the choreography for Buru, a composition by Sukhi Kang.[35] Han started release of her own compositions since 2016, the composition is 'Viola Code No. 1', it was inspired by the French poetCharles Baudelaire & Korean Sanghwa Lee, it was world premiered by French violist Erwan Richard on her recital celebrating 130th anniversary of diplomatic relations between France and Korea.[36] The second composition is 'Piano Code No. 1' inspired by arts work 'Wind of the Ancient Times' (2010, terra cotta) by Insu Choi, the piece was worked premiered by herself with kayageum arranged gallery art link 2016.[37]
She learned composing by herself, however influenced by Sukhi Kang, Pierre Boulez, she mentioned composing was devotion, not intended.[38]
In 2010, Han lived for some time in Tokyo, Japan during which she tried to adapt Japanese traditional music for Kayageum and collaborated with Japanese artists Korean Cultural Council in Japan sponsored. Her fan club, the TeRras, was established in Tokyo during the concert.[43][44][45][46]
She stayed in Yanbian in Northeastern China in 2011, and carried out research performing art forms of North Korea, Yanbian province and China with the Xingsan Jin who is a Chinese National Heritage of Kayageum of China.[clarification needed] Their collaboration included exchange of musical concepts and playing techniques of 21, 22 and 23 stringed kayageums.[47] Han studied guzheng in the Central Conservatory of Music, Beijing under professor Zhou Wang.[48]
During her stay in New York City in 2012, she performed the "Sonnet of an Innocent Flower" at the Korea Society.[53][54] During the performance, musicologist Robert. C Provine[55][56][57] accompanied her performance with segments of lectures on each piece. The event encompassed kayageum music, song and dance which replicated the Chosun Kisaeng tradition.[58][59][60][61]
On September 29, 2015, Han had debut stage at the Carnegie Hall, in New York.[19][62][63] It was actually internationally tour concert starting from at the Suginami Public Hall in Tokyo, Japan[64][65] and National Gugak Center in Seoul, South Korea.[66] She played Kayageum Sanjo full version of Choi Ok Sam which is a National intangible heritage No.23 of South Korea,[65] it was world premier that Choi Ok Sam sanjo full version performed and she was the youngest Korean traditional musicians of a few who ever had a recital at the Carnegie hall, even at the Suginami Public Hall, either.[65]
Han launched the art and cultural magazine, TeRra in New York City 2017 November. It was founded in 2016 in Seoul, and online service launched first in Tokyo 2017 February.[68]TeRra Magazine is an English magazine dealing with Asian art and culture geographically covering from based on South Asian to Northeast Asia to all over the world. As being a writer of Journal of Seoul National University, Business Journal of South Korea, as well as a member of Asian American Journalist Association in USA, she is currently editor in chief of the magazine.[69]
She tried a scientific approach to the acoustics of Asian string instrument. Since 2011, she has been visiting the acoustics department of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and North Bennet School in a scientific approach to relationship between arts and science.[72][73] She presented 'Introduction to the Asian Zither through the 12 stringed Korean kayageum' at the room 3–207 MIT 2012.
Han has been designing her dress for a performance at the stage, she had her first fashion collection and exhibition in Tokyo, gallery Pam-a 2013. She designed the show with her own kayageum music, about 10 models had a show on the stage. The title was 'from chima-chogori to court dress of Choseon', as reported by Tokyo Times (Tokyo Shimbun).[74] Film and television
Han has appeared in major media and broadcasting both of Korean domestic and overseas s. In 1999–2000, Han has appeared in Korean Broadcasting System for giving new message celebrating new millennium years 2000. In addition, she appeared in some entertainment programs of the KBS (Korean Broadcasting System), SBS (Seoul Broadcasting System) and traditional music programs. Also she had interviews music radio, Gugak FM.
Han's albums include recordings of traditional kayageum solo music, concertos and variety of chamber music including court music, sanjo music and contemporary music. She has also recorded in non-Korean kayageum music styles, in Japanese and Chinese traditional music with KotoorGuzheng.[77][78] Her Japanese Koto album 'Sakura' was appointed officially as the special edition celebrating 50 years of the diplomatic relations between Korea and Japan by Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the both governments.
Han recorded Korean all royalty's music repertoires of kayageum solo version as the first kayageum soloist following her Cheongju Han family tradition.
"TeRra Han Plays Chinese Guzheng: Fisherman's Song" (2015)
Japanese Koto'Sakura'variations: Korea-Japan Foreign Affairs Administrator's Official Album, Celebrating the 50 years Anniversary of Diplomatic Normalization between Korea and Japan (2015) [88][89]
^Lee, Changhyun; Kim, Young; Park, Younghee; Kim, Yangsuk (February 28, 2016). "Study on Jeok of Jong-ga Ancestral Ritual Food". Journal of the Korean Society of Food Culture. 31 (1): 1–32. doi:10.7318/KJFC/2016.31.1.001. ISSN1225-7060.
