“Songs My Mother Taught Me,” a concert about motherhood, growth and the challenges that come with it

Violinist YuEun Gemma Kim and pianist Sung Chang headline the Sierra Madre Playhouse September 4, performing their chamber music program, “Songs My Mother Taught Me.” The program, opening and closing with César Franck, with works from Clara Schumann, Maurice Ravel and more, is based on YuEun’s relationship with her mother, but is inspired by her own recent journey to motherhood with her 8 month old.

“Sung Chang and I have played together since 2013,” YuEun said. “We did competitions together, so we’ve been playing together for quite a long time. Because of my pregnancy and everything, we didn’t play for more than a year, so when this opportunity came, we were thinking we could connect something with my recent experiences.”

According to YuEun, each piece was curated to tell the stories of love, joy, challenges and more, which she feels have come with motherhood.

“Then [the program] goes to Prokofiev, because I wanted to bring up the idea of a challenge,” YuEun said. “Raising a child is not only beautiful. This piece is not really related to any child, but it has very powerful melodies.”

One challenge YuEun said she has faced since entering motherhood has been continuing to perform, at times playing more concerts than she had prior to her pregnancy.

“[My child] was just coming with me all the time, but there were some very challenging pieces that I had to play,” YuEun said. “This piece reflects that kind of challenge, that I had to still be strong, because the piece itself is challenging.”

According to YuEun, piecing together the program helped her consider aspects of her childhood and relationship with her mother. YuEun said Clara Schumann, the musician behind the third piece in the program, had eight children, which prompted YuEun to wonder how Schumann had continued to create music, while serving her role as a mother. As previously reported in LNP, Clara Shumann, Robert Schumann’s wife, was one of the most brilliant pianists of her generation. And besides having eight children she also found time to compose. Although her main success in life came as a pianist, she left wonderfully rich and beautiful compositions, but to have eight children and a husband who performs was not conducive to composing. She could not work at it regularly. Clara Schumann was the primary breadwinner for the family, earning money touring Europe and composing. She set new standards for performance that continue to be utilized today. One example is playing piano concertos and recitals from memory.

“All the music I used to play, I hear a little bit differently, especially those pieces that I was putting together that I related to family and love and motherhood,” YuEun said.

YuEun said she started her musical career with the piano, but once she picked up a violin at seven years old there was no going back. She has played professionally since she was around 20 years old.

“What I enjoy most about performing, is that whoever comes to my concert, they just forget what happened in their lives,” YuEun said. “Suddenly, you’re going to a different world.”

YuEun and Sung came together to create the Yu&Sung Duo, and have performed throughout the US and South Korea over the last decade. Their new program, “Songs My Mother Taught Me,” comes to the Sierra Madre Playhouse to delve into a musical storytelling of motherhood and growth.

“I’m sure there will be something that the audience will have the same experience, or agree with what I’ve been feeling or explaining,”

YuEun said. “It’s not going to be a normal recital where I play the set of music, but it will be more of a storytelling.”

DEETS

• Sierra Madre Playhouse, 87 W Sierra Madre Blvd, Sierra Madre, CA 91024
• Phone: (626) 355-4318
• Tickets